Adventures At Echowick
by TheDoctor36
Summary: Licaria Romana is going to Hogwarts… eventually. The road leading to everyone's favorite school of Witchcraft and Wizardry is half the adventure. Features an OC, a non-Ilvermorny American school, an unlikely exchange program, and quite a few liberties taken with J.K. Rowling's marvelous story. Come inside, have a cup of tea, and enjoy! (Rated T for bullying and some crude humor.)
1. In The Beginning

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any of J.K. Rowling's creations. The characters within are of my own invention - as are their situations - until it is explicitly stated otherwise.

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In The Beginning

Licaria Romana grew up on the edge of the forest. It just so happened that this forest wasn't like any other one in the United States. This forest was a national forest, protected by the government, filled with dense trees, patrolled by her father. Yes, Daniel Romana was a conservation officer. His job was to go out into the forest every day and make sure no one was hunting, fishing, or logging where they weren't supposed to be. It sounded like a boring job to most of Cari's friends, but she knew better. After all, their forest was different. It was special.

On several occasions, Cari had seen things in the woods, things that no one else seemed to notice. Fireworks exploded above the treetops, screaming and cheering echoed between the thickly-packed trunks, and the ground itself sometimes shook as though a bomb had gone off. These incidents seemed to happen more often as she grew older, and they became more vivid. When she was younger, she could almost convince herself that she had imagined them. Almost. As she grew older, she knew something strange was going on.

Finally, a piece of evidence came, proving once and for all that Cari indeed had a firm grasp on reality. It was the day of her eleventh birthday. On May 22nd, there were presents, a nice dinner, cake. Cari had it all. The next day, however, was an utterly ordinary Tuesday. School was out for the summer, so she sat around the house, watched television, played with her toys, and leafed through a few of her favorite books. Her father went to work while her mother cared for Cari's five-year old brother, Byron. When Dad got home, they had dinner and leftover birthday cake before Cari and Byron were put to bed.

The next day was nearly the same as the lack of a school routine started the mindless blurring of summer. The only distinction for that particular day was that Byron had a doctor's appointment in the late afternoon. Since no one would let Cari – who felt very grown up at eleven – stay home by herself, her dad took a half-day. Daniel got home at noon, Naomi left at three with Byron, and the owl arrived at four.

"Dad!" Cari cried excitedly. "Look! There's an owl at our window!" Living so close to the forest and its inhabitants, Cari had been taught to be wary of animals behaving in ways they shouldn't. Her voice dropped as she sadly asked, "Oh… You don't think it's rabid, do you? Owls aren't usually out during the day…"

Cari's dad never missed a teaching opportunity, so when he remained quiet, she grew concerned. "Dad?" she asked, turning around. Her father was staring at the owl with an expression she had never seen before. Even when the rabid raccoon had scuttled into the yard last year, he had worn a look of calm determination and resolve. Now, he was pale, breathing shallowly with widened eyes. Her father was… afraid, and that alarmed Cari worse than anything else had managed to.

Daniel haltingly crossed the kitchen to open the window before pushing out the screen. The small brown owl gracefully avoided the falling metal piece before fluttering over to perch on the windowsill. Cocking its head to the side, it held out a leg, the claws of which were clutching a large roll of thick paper. Daniel retrieved the scroll, stared at the owl for a long moment, and turned to hand Cari the paper. "I'm fairly certain this belongs to you." His voice was carefully blank, but Cari trusted her father. Pushing a lock of wavy brown hair behind her ear, she took it.

Tugging on the end of the ribbon encircling the rolled parchment, Cari allowed it to fall open. Elegant handwriting looped across the page. _Greetings, Licaria Romana._ Perusing the letter quickly, Cari understood that she had been accepted into a school, but not one she had ever heard of before. The details were sparse and the whole thing was vague, but Cari got the gist of it. She was requested to respond quickly to the letter and, if she accepted the invitation, to visit the school so she could take some sort of placement test.

She looked up to find her father watching her, an unreadable expression on his face. Cari set aside the letter. She would reread it in a moment, but for now, there were things to talk about. "You didn't seem surprised." Her father furrowed his brow and frowned slightly, so Cari elaborated. "You looked nervous when the owl got here, but you weren't surprised. Why?" Daniel moved his gaze to stare blankly at the microwave. "Dad, please. Tell me what's going on."

Daniel turned away and began to wipe down the stovetop. "Licaria, there are some things you don't know. There are a lot of things you don't know. First off, you have to promise me that you'll keep an open mind about what I'm going to tell you." Cari nodded. Her father didn't look at her, but must have assumed she agreed because he went on. "There's a kind of… underground society that most people don't know about. You have to be born into this society, and they acknowledge whether you are going to be considered a part of it when you hit a certain age. Eleven. That's when you are accepted into whatever the local school is in your area and you attend. They teach you everything there is to know about this society and how to function in it."

He paused, gesturing for Cari to sit at the table. When she had slid into a chair, Daniel took a deep breath and continued. "This society is very different from ours. They… hmm. It's difficult to explain. Let's just say they've found a way to tap into an alternate source of energy, one which allows them to do things modern society would deem impossible. For lack of a better term, they perform 'magic'." Daniel made the air quotes and everything, distracting himself and allowing Cari to fight the skeptical look from her face. She didn't quite succeed and Daniel gave a wry smile. "I suppose I deserve that doubt. After all, I tried to raise you to think everything through. Hold on."

Cari's dad rose from his spot at the kitchen table and walked in the direction of his bedroom. Cari heard shuffling noises, a few muffled thuds, and a curse or two before he re-entered the room. He was holding a short, twisted stick that seemed to be made of wood. Daniel filled a glass with water, took a swig, and set it down on the table in front of Cari. Moving the wooden stick, he muttered a few words and the glass transformed into _Alanna: The First Adventure_ , Cari's current favorite book. She jerked back slightly in her chair and stared with wide gray eyes, first at the book and then at her father.

He motioned her forward. "Go ahead, flip through it. This should be exactly the same as your copy. Check and see that the pages aren't blank." Cari did, and could pick out several of her favorite sections. Pointing the stick at the book, Daniel made another motion and spoke under his breath and the book changed back to a glass of water. He took another drink and set the glass in the sink.

"So now you see what I mean," he said, settling back at the table. "It seems crazy, but you know as well as I do that there is no other legitimate explanation for what just happened. But we don't have a lot of time before your mother comes home. Even if you think I'm making up this other society, please just play along." Daniel picked up the letter from where Cari had dropped it on the table and read briefly. "Ah, you see that they said 'After much deliberation, you are invited to attend Echowick blah blah blah'. I'm willing to bet that the reason it took 'much deliberation' before you were invited is the same reason I looked somewhat apprehensive. This other society has something close to a class system, except everything is based on your so-called 'blood status'.

"There are a few common types of blood. Purebloods can trace their lineage and prove that their magic goes back for many, many generations. Purebloods tend to think that they're the pinnacle of wizarding society and look down on everyone who has blood that is 'impure'. Sometimes, Purebloods produce a child who has no magical abilities. It's rare, but still happens often enough that there's a name for these people: Squibs." At Cari's furrowed brows, he nodded. "Yes, like the defective bullet. It's somewhat cruel, but these 'Squibs' are often disowned and go out into the Muggle world, marrying someone who doesn't have any magic. I'm sorry; 'Muggle' refers to non-magical things or people. Anyway, there are also Muggle-borns, who were born to two seemingly-Muggle parents. Muggle-born wizards often find that they have a Squib ancestor somewhere in their family tree. There isn't truly a name for those who are born of a marriage between a Muggle-born and a non-Pureblood, or one between a Muggle-born and a Squib, or any other combination of those types, though some choose to call them Half-bloods."

Cari sat for a moment, looking at her hands and thinking over the information her father had just given her. "So… we're Half-bloods?"

Daniel began to pace, running his hands frustrated through his hair. Cari wanted to smile at the familiar gesture, but it didn't seem like the right time. Eventually, her dad regarded her with an expression that seemed almost sad. "Cari, honey… The next part of this explanation might be tough for you to hear. I had hoped you would never have to hear it." He took a deep breath and launched into his account, "Our family never put much stock into bloodlines. My mother was a Muggle-born and she struggled with the discrimination that comes along with being a so-called 'Mud-Blood'. Never use that term, Licaria," he cautioned sternly before going on. "Anyway, my mother decided that she was going to live along with Muggles. This is rare in the wizarding world, rare enough to attract attention. She lived in the Muggle world for several years before meeting my father, who was a Squib. Both were posing as Muggles, so it took a while for them to figure out the other's big secret."

Cari's dad smiled a little at this last revelation, but soon picked up the rushed tone he had been using. Cari could tell from his voice alone that Daniel really didn't want to be telling her this story. "They were very happy together. They were married until the day they died and had two kids, myself and your Aunt Katherine. Their happiness meant the world to me, but the fact is that they weren't the first of our ancestors to choose love over magical purity. This has been wonderful overall for the family, but did still have a negative effect: our magic isn't as strong as that of most wizards and witches. Remember that name that some people call Muggle-borns? There's a term for families like ours, though it's rare as our situation: Mongrels. Some unpleasant people call us Mongrels because we essentially have no traceable bloodlines."

Though Daniel's voice had been growing bitter as he went along, he made a discernable effort to sound cheerful. "That's part of the reason I chose to be a part of the Muggle world. Besides, I met your mother. Before you ask, no, she has no magical background whatsoever. That's part of the reason I hesitate to send you to Echowick. Kids are cruel, and some adults are just as bad. With your mother and I being who we are, you would run into many comments about your blood. Besides, I am not sure if your magic would be strong enough for the classes." Seeing the disappointment cross his daughter's face, he added, "Though I can't say for sure! Obviously you were strong enough for Echowick to take an interest and that's certainly something to take into account."

They looked at each other for a moment before being interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Daniel sighed again as he tucked what Cari realized must be a magic wand into his pocket and handed Cari her letter. "That's all I want you to do: think about this. Consider all the factors and possible outcomes. And please don't say anything to your mother. I've made it fifteen years without being found out and I'd like to keep it that way." He gave her a half-smile as he snagged a strip of beef jerky from the counter. Walking to the window, Daniel held the jerky out to the owl. "Would you please come back tomorrow afternoon?" The owl gave a soft hoot before soaring off into the forest. Cari's father had just closed the window when the front door opened.

"Hello?" Cari's mother called as she walked into the house. Naomi Romana was a tall, slender woman with large brown eyes. Everything from her short blonde hair to her business-like outfits screamed 'professional woman, get out of the way'. She had been a successful psychiatrist before meeting her husband, but had taken time off to raise Cari and Byron. The only work she had done was to attend several courses, gaining a teaching certificate. Now that Byron was in school, she had taken a job at a local college teaching a psychiatry course, a college close to Byron's primary school. She was an intimidating woman and, as much as Cari loved her, had no real sense of imagination. Naomi liked to keep her feet firmly on the ground, and Cari understood in theory why her father didn't try to explain his world to his wife.

Daniel greeted his wife, bending to offer her a kiss on the cheek. Naomi smiled and grabbed his chin, pressing her lips to his. Cari turned away, making loud gagging noises as her parents rolled their eyes and laughed. "What did the doctor say, my love?" Cari fought the urge to gag again, though she had to admit that her parents made a striking couple. Daniel was Naomi's perfect opposite with his black hair and pale blue eyes.

"Absolutely perfect, just like always. He did ask me to set up an appointment for Cari. It will be time for her checkup soon. Honey, you remember my summer class starts tomorrow? I'll have to leave here around two and I won't be back until after eight."

"I remember. I'll have to go in a little earlier tomorrow morning, but they'll let me go home after lunch. Which class is this one again?" Daniel tried to keep up with the classes his wife taught, but there was a wide variety.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "It's just Intro to Psychiatry. We can't put anything too advanced into a summer session, you know? But it's my favorite time of year: mocking all the students who think they're taking psychology." She gave an evil laugh, making everyone else smile. A second later, she pointed at the window and Cari's heart gave a slight stutter. Had the owl come back too soon? "Daniel, what happened to the window screen?"

Daniel turned to look at the offending window. "Oh, that. Cari pointed out that it was starting to tear, so we pulled it out. Tomorrow, I'm going to show her how to replace a screen."

Naomi shook her head, smiling all the while. "Such a good dad, teaching those important life skills. Don't let her get hurt, okay?"

"Hey!" Cari interjected. "How could I get hurt fixing a screen?"

Both parents shot her a look of skepticism. Muttering to herself, Cari left the room in search of her book.

A few hours later, Cari found herself clearing away dishes with her mom. Dinner had been nice, and the family had played a board game, soaking up each other's company. Daniel walked in, dropped a kiss on his wife's head, and said, "Well, I have to go to bed if I'm going to wake up early tomorrow morning. Goodnight, my beautiful woman and my delightful progeny." Naomi and Cari scoffed together over Daniel's general strangeness, but wished him a good night and luck with work in the morning. Behind Naomi's back, Daniel tapped his temple, silently reminding Cari that she had some thinking to do that evening.

Sure enough, Cari couldn't think of much else. Her first instinct was to say yes. This sounded like such an incredible opportunity, but she wanted to be sure to consider every possible angle. Cari would be entering a new world, learning about things she had never even thought possible. She would have to deal with her parentage and the fact that she wouldn't be as strong as those around her. It was a frightening prospect that made her stomach knot, and yet… Cari couldn't turn the invitation down. It's an adventure. _Haven't I always been looking out for a chance to have an adventure?_

After sitting in her room for most of the night, reading her letter over and over again, Cari tried to go to bed. She laid in the dark for a long time, open eyes staring up at the shadowed ceiling. When the conflicted young girl finally drifted off, she fell into a light, fitful sleep. Her resting mind was filled with dreams of lies, being lost in a city she had never seen, and a strange man who looked like her father but wasn't.

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Author's Note \- Hey, hi, how are you? Thanks for reading my story, I know it's a bit different. Like many of you talented individuals, I am a writer at heart. I've written a few stories in the past, but most of them have revolved around either using characters who already exist, or creating a character and putting them into an already-existing story. This story started as one of the second variety, but I began questioning my OC's motives. She's a surprisingly intricate person, and I decided that her backstory was one that needed to be told.

She deserves more than a quick chapter or two of summary or a few hastily-inserted flashbacks, but that isn't the only reason: I also like a challenge. I've never written a story in which I create all of the characters, their surroundings, their entire world, etc. Yes, this story takes place in the world created by the marvelous J.K. Rowling (I'm not close to her level, obviously), but the majority of the settings and characters in the beginning will be created by myself. With that in mind, please be kind if you should choose to review, but above kindness, be honest. If I explained something poorly, or it doesn't make sense, please tell me. It helps me grow as a writer. I promise that I won't be offended!

To head off all of you who are going to tell me about Ilvermorny, I would just like to say that I've been writing this story for the better part of a year. Rather than adapt it last-minute to take place at Ilvermorny with the sparse details we've received, I chose to adapt it in another direction. Thanks for reading this long note. As a reward (?), have another chapter. Welcome to Echowick!


	2. Decision Day

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own any elements of this story specifically belonging to J.K. Rowling, the incredibly talented author of _Harry Potter_. I do own a really cool replica Gaunt horcrux ring, but that is beside the point.

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Decision Day

When Cari woke the next morning, she did her best to treat it like any other summer day, joining Byron and Naomi for bowls of cereal before all three went swimming. When a summer thunderstorm popped up unexpectedly during a third round of Marco Polo, they quickly got out of the pool, showered, and ate a simple lunch. Of course, it didn't take long for the kids to start complaining about being bored, so Naomi decided that it was time to put in a movie. As usual, she and Cari had to sit through the only movie Byron would watch: The Lion King. Thankfully, Byron fell asleep about half an hour in and Cari got into a conversation with her mother.

She couldn't tell Naomi anything specific about her invitation letter, but it still felt wrong to keep something this important a secret. "Mom," she said slowly, "what would you do if you had the chance to do something big – maybe even life-changing – but it was going to be really hard?

Naomi appeared thoughtful. "Well, Licaria, most of the life-changing things you'll ever come across are 'really hard'. But if it's important enough, the difficulties are worth it." Her eyes softened as she regarded her daughter fondly. "Honey, is this about this school you were invited to?"

Cari's mouth fell open. There had been times – especially when she had done something wrong – that she had wondered if her mother was psychic. But for her to actually guess about this Echowick place? That had to be impossible. Surely Daniel hadn't told her. For her part, Cari had made sure the letter was well-hidden… She grew nervous. _How can I hide the truth from her? She sees everything!_

Her mother gave a laugh. "Honey, don't look so surprised. Your father told me about it." Naomi became serious as she continued. "He told me it's in Canada. I'm sorry, but you know we wouldn't be able to come and see you. We would bring you home for every vacation, of course!" She half-hugged her daughter. "I'm not trying to bum you out or influence your decision either way; I just want to make sure you have all the facts before you give this place an answer."

Cari leaned into the hug, partially because she needed one and partially to avoid Naomi watching her face as she processed the new information. It had been a clever move on her dad's part to claim that the school was so far away, but a heads-up wouldn't have been unwelcome. "Thanks, Mom," she said, voice slightly muffled against her mother's shoulder. "I just- I don't know about moving somewhere so completely different. I mean, it's not like it's a new language or anything, but- it's scary."

In a carefully bland voice, Naomi said, "You know, this is probably my fault. I knew I shouldn't have read you all those bedtime stories about scary Canadians…" Cari turned to stare disapprovingly at her mother, who merely laughed and hugged Cari closer. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but I just don't understand why you're so terrified about this! It's a great opportunity and it will look great on college applications. Of course, we'll miss you, but you know we'll always be here waiting for when you get back. It's still completely up to you, but I want to know you're not just going to turn down this chance because you're frightened by Canada."

Cari fought a smile but gave in eventually. "Thank you, Mom. It means a lot to be able to talk to you about this stuff. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to."

Naomi furrowed a brow and Cari braced herself for the typical 'what did you mean by that' questions, but was saved by Daniel walking through the door. "Hellooo!" he called dramatically before catching sight of the sleeping Byron on the couch. "Shhh! Can't you see that Byron's sleeping, Naomi? The nerve of some people…"

Shaking her head at her husband's silliness, Naomi rose from her spot next to her daughter. "I have to go get ready for class. Cari, you might want to turn the sound back on before Byron wakes up. You know how he gets if he misses 'Hakuna Matata'."

All three conscious family members chorused in unison, "We have to start the movie over." They shared smiles before Naomi left to change and Daniel went to get some food out of the kitchen. Cari unmuted the movie. A few minutes later, Naomi left to teach her class as Byron woke up in time to belt 'Hakuna Matata' at the top of his lungs. Cari knew from numerous movie sessions that her little brother didn't really care about the plot after this point. He would probably start to wander around, looking for distractions. Thankfully, Daniel knew this as well.

"Hey, Byron," he said, too casually. "Did I ever tell you that I found out where your mother hid the X-Box?"

It was all he needed to say. Byron's five year-old brain latched desperately onto the idea of an afternoon spent playing video games and he begged his father to tell him the location of his favorite gaming system. Eventually, Daniel gave in, but made Byron promise that Naomi would never find out. Byron readily agreed and soon disappeared to his parents' room to hook up the system and start playing some kind of ultraviolent game his mother would never let him play.

Cari watched her father, a mixture of admiration and distrust swirling within her. Daniel turned and, catching her gaze, raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. "It just seems weird that you're suddenly a master manipulator. Mom mentioned what you told her about my 'invitation'. The Canada detail was a pretty good addition. How long ago did you think of it?"

Daniel sighed, raking a hand through his dark hair. "It's not like that, Cari. I thought it up last-minute this morning out of a lack of options. Believe it or not, I don't enjoy lying to your mother. In fact, I try to keep the lies to a minimum. You did receive an invitation to school. She deserved to know about that. The rest… well, I had to give her a reason we couldn't come to visit you. In this case, having your prospective school be such a long distance away worked perfectly. I'm sorry for not telling you about it before, but there was really no chance for us to talk before I left for work."

"Are you ever going to tell her the truth?" Cari's voice was small and timid as she asked the question, gray eyes focused on the ground. There was no answer and she peeked up to find Daniel with the look of an internal struggle on his face. His conflict gave her the courage to voice one of the questions she'd pondered the night before. "I mean, what if I really love it? What if I'm really good at magic and I don't want to come back and live a normal life among the 'Muggles'? Am I supposed to just lie to her for the rest of my life? I don't want to do that!" By the last statement, Cari's voice had risen to a dramatic wail and Daniel hushed her hurriedly.

"Shh… we can't let Byron hear us. I know, Cari. Believe me, I know. But you know your mother. Do you think she would ever accept news like I told you yesterday? She would think I was insane and then take steps to have me treated. You would be in the same boat. I've been trying since I met her to think of a way to tell the truth. I want to, desperately. Maybe you can even help me think of a way, but for now, the knowledge of another world would be completely unacceptable to her."

"Just do what you did with me! Show her some magic and she'll have to believe you!"

Finally, Cari's father let his frustration show. "I've thought of that, Cari! I can't do that! Do you know what happens when you show someone something that goes against everything they've ever believed was true? When you show them something that should be impossible but isn't? They lose their minds!" Cari stared at Daniel, horrified. He sighed and dropped into a chair. "The mind is a surprisingly delicate thing. If someone is very strong in their beliefs about the world, as your mother is, they can't reconcile the new idea of the world. The mind either blocks the new information from being absorbed and it is forgotten completely, or it tries to assimilate the information over and over until it eventually loses all cognitive function."

Cari could practically hear her mother's voice speaking through Daniel's and felt bad for her earlier assumptions. Of course he had been looking for ways to tell Naomi the truth. His argument about the safety of her mind was compelling, but Cari still wished there was a way to be completely honest with everyone. Fortunately, the arrival of the same brown owl put an abrupt but much-needed halt to the conversation.

Daniel looked intently at his daughter. "Did you decide what you're going to do, Licaria?"

Cari stared back at him, trying to detect any hint of an opinion about what she should do, but her father's face was carefully blank. She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. It was lined, since that was the only kind of paper she had in her room, but Cari supposed that it didn't truly make a difference. An answer was an answer. She held the note out to her father. "I already wrote an acceptance."

He took it and looked at the paper, obviously stifling a smile. Cari's face burned in a blush but she didn't drop her gaze. Daniel's expression smoothed out again and he asked her solemnly, "Are you sure about this? Once you accept, you'll be honor-bound to attend."

Looking from her father to the owl still swooping around the screenless window, Cari nodded. "I- I can't turn it down, Dad. It's too big of an opportunity. It's an adventure."

Daniel smiled sadly. "It most certainly will be." Without adding anything else, he turned and opened the window. The owl perched on the sill, peering irritably into the kitchen. Cari's father soothed the bird and gently tapped her on the beak before pulling a slice of turkey from the refrigerator. He fed her bite-sized scraps of the lunch meat before handing her Cari's letter. The mollified owl blinked at them before flying off. Daniel grabbed his abandoned glass of water from the counter and sat down at the table. "She should be back in a little bit with the information about the next step."

Cari stared at him disbelievingly. "A little bit? Where is this school, exactly?"

Her father raised an eyebrow. "Where is- didn't we talk about this yesterday?" Cari shook her head and Daniel jerked a thumb backward over his shoulder. "It's in the forest. Echowick Institute is about ten miles away, so the owl should return fairly soon."

Unable to form a response, Cari sat openmouthed, until she managed to scrape out, "This whole time?"

Daniel nodded and heaved a deep sigh. "Okay, deep explanations, part two. Hang on," he rose and peeked around the corner. Since Byron was apparently still engrossed in his video game, Daniel reclaimed his seat. "I do work in the national forest, but not exactly in the conservation department. I am one of the wizards who guard the borders of Echowick. I help to contain the magic that would otherwise leak out. Of course, that's only at the times when the school is making a lot of noise. My main job is to patrol the forest around Echowick and make sure no Muggles get too close. Since I spend a lot of time in the woods anyway, I've picked up a little knowledge of conservation just as a hobby. In fact-"

Cari recognized the gleam in her father's eye and knew that she would soon be sitting through an explanation of hibernation or which trees are best for pointing the way to water. Instead, she interrupted him with a quiet question. "Did you ever mean to tell us the truth about anything?"

Cari's father seemed to struggle between utter frustration and self-loathing. "Of course I meant to! Believe it or not, I didn't meet your mother and drag her back here. When I told you I left to live as a Muggle, I meant it. I lived a completely human life in Houston for many years. When I did meet her, we stayed there for a while, but magic can only be suppressed for so long. Eventually, it makes itself known. The wards at Echowick allow me to let off some magic when it becomes necessary without getting unwanted attention."

"Honestly, I'm surprised Mom agreed to move here with you. From some of the things she told me, it sounds like she had a really good practice in Houston."

"Well, by the time I had heard that I definitely got the job, she was pregnant with you. She had always said that she wanted to stay home and raise however many kids we decided to have. We had set aside the money for her to do so and it all happened to work out in the right timing."

This bore further thought, but Cari had more important questions. "If this Echowick is so close, couldn't I come home and visit sometimes? If things get really hard at school?"

Daniel's face closed up and he stared down into his glass. "No. When you go to Echowick, you can only come home at vacation times. Otherwise, your mother won't be convinced that the school is so far away." Hastily, he added, "That's not to say that we won't see each other. Since I'm technically employed by the school, I'll always be around if you need to talk."

The sudden sense of leaving and not being able to come back gave Cari pause, but she had made her choice and would stick by it. This time around, the owl didn't even land. It merely soared through the open window, dropped a thin slip on the counter and winged back out. Hesitantly, Cari grabbed the nearly empty envelope and gently opened it. Inside was a letter thanking Cari for her prompt response. In the rest of the letter, she was informed that her entrance exams were scheduled to take place at the school in one week.

"That works out," Daniel said when Cari told him this. "Byron goes to summer camp next Wednesday and your mother has her class on Thursdays, so it'll be just you and I anyway. Maybe I'll take the day off altogether and we'll tell your mom…" Daniel trailed off as he caught sight of the look on his daughter's face. "Nothing at all and we'll go at any point in the afternoon, just like the letter says we can. In fact, I'll just keep it at a half day. We don't want to lie to her, not any more than we have to."

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Author's Note \- Thanks so much for reading! I'm shocked and humbled that you made it to the very end of two chapters! I will go ahead and say that my posting schedule is going to be one chapter every Monday. In case you're familiar with my writing - and somewhat less-than-stellar track record with finishing fics - I will go ahead and say that I have quite a lot of this story written already. If I decide for some reason not to continue writing this, I will post however many of the fifty-plus chapters remain.


	3. Entrance Exams

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer **:**_ I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros own the rights to all the non-original elements of this story.

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Entrance Exams

On the afternoon of June 1st, everything went according to plan. Byron was away at camp, Daniel was home on time, and Naomi had even left a few minutes early for class. The sun was shining, it wasn't too humid, there was a slight breeze blowing, and yet it was odd to be riding down the road as if it were any other day. Cari and her father had a road trip protocol they fell into every time they drove somewhere: windows down, drinks of their choice in the cup-holders, and an Elvis CD playing in the background. If it wasn't for the hot ball of nerves in her stomach, Cari could almost convince herself that this was just like any other trip she and her dad had taken.

To make things even more confusing, they were on a road she knew well. When she was younger and curious about what her father did for a living, Daniel had taken her to work with him and Cari had seen his office. Later, when Naomi was at home recovering after giving birth to Byron, Cari had gone to work with her father every day for several weeks straight. This was the office they stopped by now, Daniel's coworker Pat walked outside, shading his eyes to study their car. He looked achingly familiar, clad in the khaki shirt and brown pants of the Department of Conservation- or at least, what Cari had always associated with the Department of Conservation. It was only then that she realized many of her childhood assumptions were untrue.

Daniel pulled up to the driveway that ran past the small building and lowered his window. "Hey, Pat," he called in greeting.

Realizing who it was, Pat pushed his hat back and rested his hands on his belt, grinning widely. "So, you skipped out on half a day's work just to turn around and come back? Thought I taught you better than that, son."

Daniel raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. "First off, _I_ taught _you_ the best way to get out of work. Second, I only came back for the most important of reasons."

He leaned back in his seat and Pat obligingly peered further into the car. His eyebrows lifted as he caught sight of Cari. He staggered back, clutching theatrically at his heart. "Do my eyes deceive me or is that Princess Cari herself?" Cari laughed at his dramatics and Pat ducked back down to glare at her through the window. "Excuse me. How dare you laugh whilst I am suffering a heart attack?" Blinking innocently at him, Cari tried to fight back a smile but he waved her away. "Never mind, I forgive you. So, you two headed to Echowick?"

Daniel beamed with pride. "We sure are. Cari here has to take her entrance exams."

Shaking his head, Pat scoffed. "They don't have classes advanced enough for her." Looking to Cari, he said, "Don't embarrass the other kids too bad, sweetheart. I mean, you'll beat them for the best scores, but don't rub it in their faces too much."

Cari blushed. "Thanks, Pat. I'm worried, though. How am I supposed to take a test when I've had no chance to study? What kind of questions are even on it?"

Pat shrugged. "General stuff, you know. Don't sweat it. I'm sure you'll do fine." Daniel voiced his agreement, but Cari's nerves were still raging. Pat and Daniel chatted back and forth for several minutes before another car pulled up behind them. "Guess you'd better get on your way so I can make sure these people aren't just some lost Muggles." To Cari, he said, "Knock 'em dead, hon." Straightening, Pat patted the roof of the car twice and Daniel pulled away. When she looked back, Cari could see Pat conversing with the driver of the car behind them.

Cari and her dad drove further into the forest, even when the road turned to gravel. They continued down the road for a few miles before Daniel made a sharp right turn onto a smaller, paved road. Cari looked around and noted, "That wasn't much of a secret entrance."

One corner of Daniel's mouth lifted in a half-smile. "Not to you. If you were a Muggle, there wouldn't have been a road there at all." At Cari's look, he amended, "Well, of course there still would have been a road there, but you wouldn't have seen it. The road we were on curves to the left and leads to a few scenic outlooks and a short hiking trail. Muggle tourists and outdoorsmen of all kinds go there, see a halfway decent conservation point, and leave. Neat and easy."

Since she couldn't come up with a response, they rode in silence, listening only to the sound of the wind breezing through the windows and 'Devil in Disguise'. Suddenly, the car slowed. Cari glanced around before lifting an eyebrow at her father. "What's up, Dad?"

Daniel was grinning. "It's just… You're about to catch your first glimpse of Echowick. I want to savor the moment." His gaze flicked up to the rearview mirror and he sighed. "Well, I was going to savor the moment but there's another car behind us." They continued on, though the car moved at a slow crawl. Daniel shrugged. "I'm not going to rush this, I don't care who's behind us."

The car crept forward until a slight curve in the road brought a large stone building out from behind a copse of trees. The building was large and ornate, complete with ivy winding up the tan blocks of rock. Cari could tell her father was waiting for a reaction. "It's pretty… I mean, isn't it a little small? How many kids go to this school?"

Daniel shook his head. "That's not Echowick; it's just the administrative building. That's the building with the library and Headmaster's office in it. It would be inconvenient to have the entrance exams in the depths of the school, so Fleet offers the Admin Building every year."

Cari had so many questions, but found herself entirely distracted by their approach. Even at their snail's pace, the car soon arrived at the small lot filled with other vehicles. Smoothing the bottom of her shirt over her thighs, Cari exited the car. She had chosen her outfit with care. Since she didn't dress up often, her choices were limited, but the dark jeans and long red shirt were just neutral enough to be classy, especially when paired with a long necklace, received as a birthday present from her mother. Plain black tennis shoes finished up the outfit.

A car door slamming in the opposite direction made Cari turn, though she tried not to look for the source of the noise. A boy with dark hair stood next to the back of the car that had been behind them. His tan skin and high cheekbones made it obvious he had some Native American ancestry, not uncommon around here. Even with his sunglasses on, Cari could tell that he wasn't looking at her and she was grateful. This boy looked intimidating and the last thing she needed was to trip or otherwise embarrass herself on the way into the building.

The passenger door of the same car opened as another boy slid out. He was the polar opposite of the first one. Slightly shorter, his hair a sandy blonde, he looked far more pleasant than his friend. Noticing Cari's gaze, he smiled at her. Though his sunglasses covered quite a bit of his face, Cari was almost certain the smile had been genuine. She gave a split-second smile before turning away, though not before noting that she might be overdressed. Both boys wore cargo shorts and graphic tee shirts.

"Cari?" Daniel asked, watching her curiously. "Are you ready to go in?"

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to settle her nerves, Cari nodded and her father led the way to the ornate wooden door of the Admin Building. They stepped into an open, expansive room. The dark wood floors and shelves filled with books absorbed the beams emanating from elaborate light fixtures hanging from the high ceilings. The whole thing reminded Cari of the wondrous pictures she had seen of libraries in Europe and as her eyes adjusted, the details she was able to pick out left her staring. The door opened and shut once more as the two boys and an adult walked in, standing behind Cari and her father.

Before Cari could shift to the side, a tall woman swayed gracefully over to where they stood, raising a finger to her lips. Eyeing her outfit, Cari didn't feel overdressed anymore. The woman's thick black hair was pulled back in a practical bun, leaving her sharp cheekbones almost stark in their prominence. Her eyes were black and liquid, luminous in her makeup-free face. She was wearing a black blazer over a blouse that glowed turquoise, contrasting nicely with tan skin Cari was willing to bet was natural.

Once the woman reached the small group, she leaned down slightly and murmured, "I am the Headmistress of Echowick, Professor Fleet. Your names are?"

Still rather overwhelmed by Professor Fleet up close, Cari was glad when the woman's intelligent gaze was fixed behind her, on one of the boys. "Chayton West." Cari moved sideways and back a step so that the boys were beside rather than behind her. Fleet nodded at the one who had spoken, the boy with the wavy dark hair.

She looked to the blonde boy next. He made eye contact with the woman and said, "Shadow Hale, ma'am." Cari couldn't prevent her eyebrow from raising. _Shadow?_ The boy's intensely blue eyes met hers for a split second and he colored slightly.

The headmistress cleared her throat and it was Cari's turn to blush. "Licaria Romana." Shadow raised a single, mocking eyebrow and Cari made a face at him. _What am I doing? I need to focus on these tests._

Acting as though she hadn't seen the exchange, Professor Fleet spoke to Daniel and the other man. Judging by his appearance, Cari thought him to be Shadow's father. "If you two would please head to the back of the library, we have a station set up for the parents." The two men walked away and Fleet turned to the children. "If you are ready, each of you has an assigned seat in the testing area." She gestured to the tables set up behind her. Cari could see several students already seated, poring over bundles of paper. "The seats are organized alphabetically by last name. I trust you can find your own way?" They nodded and she returned to the front of the library.

Cari took off to find her seat, leaving the two boys behind. She quickly found her seat in the middle of the second-to-last table. Her name was embossed _into_ the table, the carved letters inlaid with gold. Impressed, Cari eased into the chair. There were two others at the table, one a blonde boy and the other a girl with short dirty-blonde hair cut into cascading layers. Beginning to feel self-conscious about her own dark waves, Cari reached up to run a hand over her hair, but the girl looked over at the gesture, surveying Cari with cool brown eyes. Cari jerked her hand back down and the girl looked for a moment like she was going to smile, but her gaze drifted down and caught sight of Cari's name on the table in front of her. The girl's eyes snapped back to Cari's face, studying her intently before returning her attention to the open test in front of her. The boy never looked up, instead concentrating on maintaining his breakneck writing speed.

Pretending the girl's strange behavior could be about anything besides her bloodlines, Cari opened the packet of papers to the first page of the test. She wrote her name neatly at the top and slid her gaze to the first question, pencil poised to take down the answer. _What does c represent if c = a/b in an equation when a is equal to-_ Jerking in surprise, Cari said out loud, "I thought this was a test for a _magic_ school?" It came out at a much higher volume than she had originally intended it and many of the students looked over at her.

Looking as though she was fighting a smile, Fleet cleared her throat and said, "It is. Additionally, it is still a test, so I would ask that you please remain quiet and work." A ripple of laughter spread through the room and, despite her blush, Cari even chuckled a bit. She glanced around before she resumed her test. Across the room, Shadow caught her eye, smiling at her. When she glanced away, Chayton was looking at Shadow, wearing a wide grin. The girl across the table was biting the inside of her lips, Cari could tell, and the boy shook his head minutely as he began building back up to his previous writing pace.

Cari buried her head in the test, answering questions about a variety of topics, ranging from world and American history, to math, to science, to English, and so on. There was nothing even remotely relating to magic at all and Cari forced herself to relax. She had always done fairly well in school, so this was a far less frightening task than she had built it up to be. As she wrote, new students were cycling into the library while others rose to turn in their tests and leave. Eventually, she came to the last question, but it was on the middle of a page several sheets of paper from the end. Cari answered the question with ease - _Hamlet_ , _King Lear_ , and _Romeo and Juliet_ were all examples of Shakespearean tragedy - and flipped the page.

The last few sheets of paper were devoted to a 'placement test'. Cari was familiar with the format, of course. The left side of the paper was filled with statements about various things and she was to fill in the bubbles on the right depending on how true they were for her. She grimaced at the first one. No, she most definitely did not enjoy planting or growing things. _Filling in the 'zero interest' bubble for that one._ All told, there were more than a hundred questions on the placement test. It was likely the part that took Cari the longest amount of time.

When she was finally done, Cari set down her pencil and flexed her fingers, gazing around the room. While she had been utterly focused, the blonde boy must have finished his test. Across the table, the blonde girl appeared to be answering her final questions as well. A tall, African-American boy walked up to the table, searching until he caught sight of his name before sitting down with a smile. It was the first genuine smile Cari had seen from anyone other than the Shadow kid, and she returned it eagerly. He gave a small wink and pretended to roll up nonexistent cuffs before opening his test. She stifled a giggle while Fleet cleared her throat, drawing Cari's attention to the front of the library. Cari stood and walked over, passing her test to the headmistress.

"Thank you, Licaria. It will be a pleasure to have you joining us this year." There was an odd note in the woman's voice but Cari internally shrugged it off as Professor Fleet continued. "In approximately three weeks, you will receive your class schedule, your booklist, and most importantly, your Wing information." Cari must have looked as confused as she felt and Fleet explained, "At Echowick, you will be assigned a Wing of the school to live in based on the results of your placement test. It's an indicator of the type of career would suit you best. At the end of your first year, we will give you an aptitude test which will point you in the direction of a particular career. If you agree with our assessment, you will begin taking courses for that career." Cari was dazed, but nodded. The headmistress patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about all that right now. At the moment, remember that your information should arrive in three weeks or so, and if you or your father should have any questions, please get in contact with me right away. Understood?"

Cari nodded again and stuck out her hand. After a brief pause, Fleet reached out and shook it as Cari said, "It was nice to meet you, Professor Fleet. Thank you so much for the help!"

"You are most welcome, Licaria. Now, your father should be waiting in the back of the library. Just walk in that direction and you'll be there shortly." Giving her new headmistress a smile, Cari walked off in the direction Fleet had gestured. There was a buzz of conversation that grew louder as she wound her way through the bookshelves. Eventually, she emerged to find several groups of adults settled around tables, drinking bottles of water and eating snacks.

Daniel, lounging alone by the librarian's desk, straightened as he caught sight of his daughter. "Cari! How did it go?"

Cari shrugged. "Guess I'll find out in three weeks. I think it went pretty well, though. Hey, why didn't you tell me that they were just going to ask a bunch of math and science questions?"

Casting his daughter a befuddled glance, Daniel replied, "Of course they were questions about math and science. What did you think they were going to be about?"

"Magic!" Cari exclaimed. "I thought they were going to ask a ton of questions about spells and wands, and I wouldn't know any of them! I've been freaking out for the past week. I thought they weren't going to let me in."

Daniel smiled. "Cari, they have to make sure that the kids they let into Echowick can still function in non-magical society if they choose to. It wouldn't make sense to have a school if none of the kids who attend it can read at above a first grade level. They do this test to see if you have the basic skills before they try to build on them. Even if you totally bombed the entrance exam, the school offers a sort of 'catch up' program. It's a year long, so the student is a year behind in their schooling, but they have all the skills necessary to be a productive member of wizarding society."

Cari mulled it over for a few minutes. "I guess that makes sense," she mused.

Still grinning, Daniel ruffled her hair. "Glad to hear it. Ready to head out, kiddo?"

As she nodded, Cari saw the blonde girl from her table walk in. A man with the same brown eyes met her and they began talking, much as Cari and her father had done. As Cari and Daniel walked by, the man nodded slightly and said, "Romana." Daniel in turn inclined his head and returned, "Strickland."

Cari wanted to ask what that had been about, but they were approaching the testing area and it seemed rude to talk. When they were walking past the tables, Shadow and Chayton were being given information by Professor Fleet, who paused to shake Daniel's hand. Cari resolutely kept her gaze moving between her father and the headmistress, though from the corner of her eye, she could see Shadow trying to catch her attention.

Soon enough, Cari and her father were out in the car, navigating their way out of Echowick's labyrinth of roads. "So, who was that guy you spoke to?"

Daniel seemed to think for a moment before apparently deciding to reply. "That was Kevin Strickland. He was going to school at Echowick around the same time I was. He's never been a friend, but he's never been hostile. His bloodline is absolutely pure. That's one the rare side in the United States, so they're held to high standards. One of those standards is to not associate with Mongrels like us. He and his wife were both fairly neutral in school, and I suspect they're bringing up their daughter – Kimber, I believe is her name – to be the same way. Don't be offended if she isn't very talkative to you. It's just the way things have to be."

Cari stared out of the window as she processed her father's explanation. 'Just the way things have to be' wasn't much of a reason for anything, as far as she was concerned, but she didn't know enough to argue. It was a quiet ride home.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated, but I won't say you have to. :) See you guys next week!


	4. Results

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, book or movie, nor am I earning any profit from the writing of this story. All original characters are my own, as is my setting, yet all of it is based on J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World.

* * *

Results

It was three weeks later, to the day, when the owl came back. It was the same owl that had brought the acceptance letter and the schedule for the entrance exams. Cari saw it first and cleared her throat sharply, nodding to the window when she had caught her father's attention. Daniel glanced over and his chair rocketed back as he shot to his feet, distracting Byron. "Hey, do either of you kids want to go for ice cream?" Cari looked over at Byron, who was nodding with the excitement plain on his face. Their father said, "Okay, great. But nobody tell Mom, deal? Byron, go comb your hair and get your shoes on before we go."

Byron's face screwed up in reluctance and distaste. "Comb my hair? Dad, do I really have to?"

Daniel gave a somewhat forced chuckle. "Yes, you do. I don't want to be seen out in public with a kid who looks like he's part hedgehog. Makes people wonder about your mom and I."

Byron opened his mouth, apparently decided that an argument wasn't worth risking the promise of ice cream, and ran off toward the stairs. Cari ran in the opposite direction to the window. The owl was still fluttering out outside of it, and she threw the lower pane upward. Landing on the sill, the owl ruffled her feathers slightly and settled. She stuck out one leg and Cari accepted the thick packet. The owl stayed at her perch, blinking at Cari, who stood blinking right back.

"Lesson one," Daniel said, behind her. "Owls always expect a treat after delivering mail, especially something heavy like this envelope." He grabbed a bag of Chex Mix from the counter and offered a small handful to the owl. Gingerly, she pecked out only the pretzels before turning to fly away. Cari started to open the envelope, but Byron thundered back downstairs and stood in the doorway, waiting impatiently. "Hey, why is the window open?"

Daniel slammed the window shut, saying nonchalantly, "There was a fly in here. We were shooing it out."

Cari nodded at her younger brother. "We got it, too. Anyway, Dad, like I was saying, you two should go ahead without me. There's some stuff I need to do around the house."

"Okay, sweetie," Daniel said. "We'll bring you back a soda or something." Byron, standing behind his father, was looking at Cari as if she had gone completely insane, but left without comment.

Cari absently thanked him, but could barely wait for the door to slam closed before she ripped open the packet. She let the papers inside spill to the counter and sorted through the stack. There was a booklet entitled _Rules and Regulations of the Echowick Institute_ , a class schedule, a booklet, and a paper with _Test Results: Romana, Licaria_ inscribed across the top in an elegant script. Scanning through the contents of her test results, Cari found that the entrance exams were graded on a pass/fail system. She had passed, and was scheduled to start entry-level classes in August.

Further down the page, Cari was informed that her placement test had indicated she would excel at a career in the field of Physical Expertise. The discipline included careers as wandsmiths, architects, herbologists, and other things that Cari had no idea about. There was also a note that she could come back for another placement test if she felt the first one had been inaccurate. Making a mental note to ask her father about the whole situation, Cari looked to the last slip of paper. In it, she gathered that the Wings were split into apartment-like living spaces. Each apartment had four rooms: three were bedrooms hosting two students each while the last room was a bathroom. If students were confused by this, they could write for more information or there would be a map handed out on move-in day. Cari was also informed that her roommate's name was Lydia Abrams, but the administration advised that focusing on the academic aspects of her Echowick preparation was the wiser course, at least until the start date was closer.

Cari heard a car pull into the driveway and threw the stack of papers into one of the drawers in the kitchen. She would simply have to grab the pages later, when she could take them to her room without fear of discovery. Or, better yet, she could maybe ask her father some questions if no one was around to become suspicious. What did it mean to be placed in a career in Physical Expertise? It didn't sound like the kind of career she had always wanted, but it would be such a hassle to get back to Echowick for another placement test. Plus, what if she was put right back in the same place?

The door opened and Cari could hear Byron running inside. "Cari! Cari! We got pizzas!"

Daniel walked into the kitchen behind his son, twisting slightly to avoid hitting the boy with the two large boxes in his hands. He set them down and shrugged. "We got to the convenience store and agreed that real food sounded better than ice cream. Don't worry; we got enough for your mother." Reaching into the plastic bag dangling from his arm, Cari's dad pulled out two large bottles of Coke and her mouth started to water. Enthusiastically, the three dug in.

It was a great evening. If Naomi had been there – and Cari could stop thinking about school – it would have been utter perfection. As it was, Cari laughed and joked with her father and brother, ate pizza, and then they all decided to watch a movie. Byron and Cari begged to watch Star Wars: A New Hope. Daniel, never needing much of an excuse to watch his favorite movie, quickly allowed himself to be convinced.

Naomi didn't get home until the compactor scene, but immediately settled on the couch to catch the rest of the movie. As the end credits rolled to one of Cari's favorite soundtracks, Naomi finally stood, exiting the room to change before getting some pizza.

Immediately, Daniel took Byron's vacated spot next to Cari. "So?" he asked, excitement written across his face.

Cari glanced over her shoulder. "Is now the best time to talk about this?"

Daniel shrugged. "Well, your mother is going to take some time changing into her pajamas; she said something about taking a shower first. And I'm pretty sure Byron is going to bed. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open until the movie ended. So?"

She held up one finger in the universal gesture for _wait_ as she retrieved the papers from the drawer in the kitchen and pushed them into Daniel's hands. Before he could read them, she blurted out, "They told me I belong in Physical Expertise. Is that good or bad?" Cari searched her father's face for some sign that this meant she was stupid, but saw only a mixture of relief and delight.

"That's great, sweetie! I was Physical Expertise as well. Look at you, taking after your old man," he said, ruffling her hair fondly. "It's wonderful, you'll love it. I didn't want to influence you, but it's the best of the four Wings to live in. Not that I'm prejudiced or anything. It's just that everyone knows that the Academics Wing is quiet and cold. No one there knows anyone else and they spend more time with their books than with each other. Not that books are bad," he said, correctly interpreting Cari's expression. "It's just that one needs balance between learning and having a social life. Academics Wing students tend to forget that. Then there's the Arts Wing, ugh. You don't want to live there. Everyone is so self-obsessed! The only thing they do talk about - besides themselves - is whatever gossip happens to be floating around the school. No, you wouldn't like them much, either. Well, maybe one or two kids, but that's about it. The Politics Wing isn't horrible, but everyone you meet is trying to take advantage of you somehow and you never know whether it will work out in your favor. Rule of thumb: it won't. No, you definitely lucked out on your Wing!"

Cari still wasn't certain, but her father's breakdown of the Wings left her feeling a little more secure in her placement - biased as the explanation had been. "I guess it sounds pretty cool. But what kind of job am I going to get?"

Daniel furrowed his brow, shuffling through the stack he still held. "'Get'? You don't 'get' a job assigned to you, Cari. At the end of your first year, they'll have everyone take a test much like the placement test from this year. From those test results, they'll give you a career that you tested highly for, ranked by percentage of strengths and skills in that career. You can either accept the career that you match with or you can request a list of the careers you tested highly for and choose another one from that." He paused, mulling for a moment. "I suppose you could choose a career they didn't list for you if you had the skills for it, but their tests are fairly accurate."

"Where were you placed, Dad?"

"What, me? I was told my skills made me a 78% match for a conservationist, which is a pretty high score. You see how that turned out! Like I said, they're pretty accurate." He glanced over toward the door to the bathroom. "Oh, I think that's your mother. I'm going to go grab a cookie. Want one?"

Cari shook her head, accepted the papers he handed back to her, and watched as her father walked into the kitchen, asking Naomi about her day and talking a little about his own. She still couldn't claim to completely understand her parents' marriage, but they seemed to be making it work. Even if Daniel still wasn't telling his wife everything, Cari knew he truly cared about Naomi and would do whatever was necessary to be worthy of her love.

Still in range of the murmurings of her parents, Cari decided that now would be a good time to retreat to her bedroom. She climbed the stairs, leaning over the banister to shout a quick 'goodnight' to her parents. From there, it didn't take long to change into pajamas, brush her teeth and climb in bed. Cari was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

The next day, whenever there was a moment the others weren't around, Daniel would try to answer Cari's questions. He asked for her book and supply lists, explaining that, due to the lack of an established wizarding society in the area, textbooks had to be ordered in from somewhere too far away to drive. Some of the other supplies, like certain strange ingredients, were even rarer. As Cari's father told her, these ingredients usually had to be ordered from a specialist in some place in Britain called Diagon Alley. She gave Daniel the lists and he promised to send off the various orders, though they argued about the timeline.

"Licaria. I am not sending any orders right now. Even the Diagon Alley supplies usually arrive at Echowick in a few days and the books take even less time. All of them have to be picked up within two days, and the longer your supplies are around here, the more likely it is that your mother or brother will find them. It's too big a risk."

"Come on, Dad! Byron and Mom only come into my room every once in a while," Cari wheedled. When Daniel still didn't look convinced, she added, "And I can always become a sullen teenager a little early. I'll just hide my books and tell everyone to stay out of my room. I'll even slam the door!"

Daniel grinned, but shook his head. "I admire your dedication and creativity, but the answer is still no. It's too much of a risk. Besides, I have a feeling 'sullen teenager' will come a lot sooner than any of us are ready for. Let's not start that process any earlier than we have to, okay?"

Cari seriously considered sulking, but in the end, she just shrugged and smiled at her father. "All right, I guess your argument makes sense. But how long do we have to wait?"

Daniel pursed his lips as he thought. "I don't know… A month? Maybe a month and a half?"

"A month?!" Cari knew she was gaping, but couldn't help it. "Dad, I want some time to get familiar with the material before I actually start!"

"I know, but classes don't start until the 21st of August, which means your arrival isn't until the 20th. You'll have plenty of time. I'll put in the order on a Monday or Tuesday, and we can go pick up the supplies on a Thursday when your Mom is teaching her class."

Cari had finally found what she was looking for. "Ha! That won't work! Mom's classes are only eight weeks, which means she's going to be done before a month from now." She raised an eyebrow and let her voice take on a knowing tone. "And unless I'm very much mistaken, Mom is going to notice if we mysteriously disappear and then come back with a bunch of random books and things…"

Daniel glared, but eventually had to concede that his daughter had a good point. "Fine! I suppose I can enter the order in two weeks or so. That way, we can go pick it up on her last day of class." He turned thoughtful. "I suppose that would be ideal. She'll have finals, so the class will take even longer than usual..."

"Or, you know, we could just order the stuff now and pick it up next Thursday so it's over and done with."

"Licaria!" Daniel exclaimed, half exasperated, half laughing. "You'll have your supplies in a few weeks. That'll have to be enough for you."

Cari spread her hands in front of her in an innocent gesture. "Okay, okay! I was just trying to make it easier on you, Dad."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Daniel glared at his daughter around his fingers. "Believe me; I know exactly what you were trying to do."

* * *

A little less than a month later, Cari walked through her bedroom door, arms laden with her brand new school supplies. Flopping on her bed, she ran hands over the glossy covers of her textbooks. They ranged from _200 Simple Charms and How to Use Them_ to the more intimidating title of _Handbook for the Novice Potion-Brewer_. Cari paused over one textbook entitled _Magical Heritage: A Study of Tribal Magic_. It had been written by a J. Fleet. _It can't be a common last name_ , Cari mused. _Maybe the Headmistress is related to the author and that's why the book is used._

Yet, as interesting this thought was, Cari had other things to focus on. One bag held several sets of robes that apparently, Echowick students wore every day. Cari wasn't wild about the idea of a uniform, but when she tried one billowing black robe on, she felt like a Jedi. With that in mind, Cari was sure she could get used to wearing one.

In addition to her textbooks and bag of robes, she had been given two boxes. Rolling off her bed, she knelt beside the larger of the two, ripping the top open to find a strange bowl made of goldish metal. In a flash, she realized that this must be the cauldron she was instructed to buy for her Potions class. Likening the color and texture to brass, Cari was still shocked at how light the cauldron was. She carefully set it aside and opened the smaller box.

It was filled to the brim with items. Feeling as though she were digging through a treasure chest, Cari sorted through the tangle inside. There was a compass, a short length of rope, a topological map of the area, two rocks in individual plastic bags, a small canteen, a foldable shovel, a crank radio, and other assorted gear. Turning back to her bed, Cari sorted through the books again. At the bottom of the stack, she found a book bearing the title _Taming the Wilderness: A Wizard's Guide to Surviving_. Curiously, Cari cracked the book open, leafing through the first few pages of Chapter One. Sure enough, the book spoke of the dangers of being stranded in the wilderness without magic. Cari grimaced. She didn't mind the outdoors, but that didn't mean she wanted to become Bear Grylls.

"Cari!" her father called up the stairs. "Your brother's home from Matt's!" Byron had been all too eager to go visit his best friend for a day, and Matt's mother had been grateful for a respite from entertaining her son. Daniel went on, "Make sure you put your supplies right where we agreed!"

"Okay, Dad!" Cari agreed loudly. She put her cauldron, the box of survival gear, and most of her textbooks into a large, beaten-up cardboard box. She decided to keep the Transfiguration textbook out so she could start preparing for her class. The box went on a high shelf built into the wall of her closet. Byron would never see it, and if he did, he would pay no attention. Even in the highly unlikely chance he took an interest in its contents, he would never be able to reach it without dragging a stool up the stairs – which someone would be likely to notice and stop him. Cari's father was a little over-prepared, but she had no doubts that his plan would work.

Rather than go greet her little brother, Cari elected to lie on her bed and begin learning about Transfiguration, whatever that was. She lay carefully facing away from the door, where it would look like she was leafing through any other slightly oversized book. It took only a few short minutes for her to learn what Transfiguration was and immediately afterward realized that classes at Echowick might be a little more complex than what she had hoped.

* * *

Author's Note \- Sorry, everyone! Life got a little crazy yesterday and I missed my usual posting date. I'm sure no one suffered overly much. Thanks for reading!


	5. Arrival

**Adventures At Echowick  
**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own Harry Potter or any of the J.K. Rowling-specific elements of this story. Attempting to separate her elements from my own creations would be a true legal nightmare, so we'll just say all of it belongs to her.

* * *

Arrival

The next month of Cari's life flew by as she tried to spend as much time with her family as possible while still reading through the first few chapters of each new textbook. She learned a good deal about magical history and charms, was able to identify a variety of plants on sight, and point out several different constellations. When the day arrived for her to leave for Echowick, Cari felt somewhat confident in the preparations she had made.

At first, she had been nervous about being dropped off. What if her mother wanted to come along? However, Naomi solved the problem on her own. Looking tearfully at Cari toward the end of July, she said, "Honey, I'm not going to come with you and your father to the airport. Is that okay?" Cari sent her a questioning look and Naomi made a sound that was half chuckle, half sob. "I don't want to break down in public and embarrass myself. Don't get excited; I'll still be crying all over you when you leave, but I can at least manage not to do that at an airport."

Feeling guiltily relieved, Cari hugged her mother and promised that she would be crying as well. The night before move-in, Cari checked and re-checked that she had packed everything she could ever need. She had worried about smuggling her supplies out of the house without Naomi noticing the cauldron, but Daniel had assured her that it would be completely camouflaged by the rest of her belongings. When she surveyed the stack that had to be transferred into the car, Cari had to agree. There were two rolling suitcases, a duffel bag, and the giant cardboard box. Anything could be inside of the luggage.

Cari had eaten a light breakfast that morning, mostly due to nerves and the sinking feeling that came from her mother's brimming tears. Byron, not truly understanding what was going on, studied his mother with wide eyes. When the time came to load the car, Daniel walked up to his daughter's room with her. She watched, fascinated, as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and set it against each bag, whispering something every time. She raised an eyebrow at her father and Daniel grinned. "It's called a featherweight charm," he explained as he handed her the duffel bag. "Pretend it's heavy, but don't struggle too much. We don't want your mother to try to carry them and start asking questions about why they're so light."

As Daniel easily lifted a suitcase in each hand, Cari shrugged the duffel onto her shoulder and picked up the box. She had dreaded carrying it most of all, due to the weight of the textbooks and the lack of handles, but she found herself transporting it without any issues. Careful to keep it out of her line of sight, Cari made her way down the stairs and into her mother's arms.

Naomi was crying already and hugged her daughter tightly. Behind her, Daniel laughed. "Naomi, at least let her carry that stuff out to the car. She'll come back inside before we go, I promise."

Laughing shakily, Naomi released Cari, who walked quickly outside and set her box in the trunk before placing the bag in the backseat. She didn't want to be a crybaby, but her eyes were already starting to water uncontrollably. She had been so focused on preparing for the school itself that she hadn't truly allowed the idea to sink in: she was leaving home, leaving her parents, and moving to a strange place filled with strange people who lived by unfamiliar customs. She had been so looking forward to the adventure of it all…

Feeling numb, Cari walked back inside and was immediately wrapped in a hug. She clutched at her mother's back, feeling the tears start to roll down her face. They held each other like this for a few minutes before Byron, watching the exchange from the couch, began to cry as well. Naomi pulled back to glance at him before looking back at Cari. Oddly enough, the sight of her children's tears seemed to give Naomi a sense of purpose. She gave Cari a watery smile and dabbed at the tears on her daughter's cheeks. "I am so proud of you, Cari. I know you're unsettled, maybe even nervous, but you can handle anything they throw at you and more. I love you so much!"

As she dissolved into sobs, Byron came around the end of the couch, arms outstretched for a hug. Cari knelt down and embraced her younger brother, not minding in the least when his tears soaked into her shirt. He finally released her, transferring to hug their mother instead. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Cari mustered a smile and said, "I love you guys. I'll see you soon, okay?"

Naomi merely nodded, not trusting her voice and Daniel drew Cari out of the front door, pausing only to give Naomi a quick hug and kiss her on the cheek. "Be back soon, honey." He closed the door in a gentle motion and walked with Cari to the packed-up car. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Daniel cleared his throat. "Well, that was rough."

Nodding emphatically, Cari wiped away the last of her tears. "Good thing I packed the tissues." She flipped up the mirror on her visor and dabbed at her face, blew her nose, and tried to calm down. "Dad?" she asked hesitantly. When he made a questioning noise, she asked, "Is there any chance we could stop at the guard shack until I look a little less like I've just been crying?"

Daniel cracked a smile. "Don't worry, I'm driving us to the convenience store. I figure you could use a soda and snack. This will be our last road trip for a while." Fighting back a fresh wave of tears, Cari nodded and stared out the window.

About an hour later, they pulled into the same parking lot they had been in a few months ago. Now, the small, paved square was packed with vehicles. After nearly colliding with several other cars, they finally found a parking spot. Cari stood, carefully smoothing her outfit. It was nearly the same one as she had worn to take her entrance exam, but she had replaced the red blouse with a short sleeved tee shirt in a bright blue. It lent a hint of the color to Cari's gray eyes and so was one of her favorites. She had hoped it would give her confidence, but a fine tremble still ran through her hands.

Daniel locked the doors and walked over to the same building they had entered last time. Cari, not understanding, stared at her father who stopped to explain, "You have to go in here to get your paperwork. There are documents and maps they want you to have before you get settled in." When she still didn't move, he said soothingly, "It's okay, we'll get your things from the car in a few minutes. Let's just go in and see what they have for us." Jerkily, Cari nodded and began moving toward her father. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they climbed the shallow steps.

The library was as dark as it had been last time, but considerably louder. The tables that had been occupied by students taking tests were now arranged in a straight line, formed into stations for students and parents to grab pieces of paperwork. Daniel steered them into the end of the line and nodded smilingly at the staff members they came into contact with, most of whom called him by name. He introduced Cari to each, asking them to keep an eye out for her. They all agreed, welcoming her to Echowick and reassuring her that she would love it there. For her part, Cari was growing less and less certain.

Finally, they had collected all the necessary paperwork and Daniel led his daughter back outside. They sat on a stone wall as he shuffled through the papers. Finally, he pulled one free, holding it out to Cari. "This is the one that describes your Wing." He stared at her, silently urging her to snap out of her shock and take charge of her new situation.

Taking a deep breath, Cari accepted the paper and began to read. "The Physical Expertise Wing is in the South Wing of the school. I'm in Building 1, Dorm D, Room 2. What does that even mean?" Wordlessly, Daniel handed her the page with the school's setup explained. She studied it for a moment but still seemed confused.

Daniel pointed to the building drawn on the paper. "This is what is known as an 'H-building'. It has a real name, but no student has ever actually cared enough to remember it. They're called H-buildings because they look like the capital letter 'H' from above, as you can see." He pointed to a different drawing before continuing on. "Each wing is made up of five of these H-buildings set end to end, jutting off each side of the main building. There is a hallway on the upper level that connects all five, the cross of the H. There are four rooms on each of the two floors, one in each point of the H. The upper four are classrooms while the lower four are student dorms.

"Building 1 means that you're in the first H-building of the Physical wing. The D means you're in the dorm that's in the bottom left corner of the H, so right up against Echowick's main building. Each one of the dorms - more like apartments, really - is divided up into four rooms. Three of the rooms are bedrooms, housing two students each. The last room is a bathroom. Are you with me?"

To be honest, Cari was a little lost, but she didn't want her father to explain it again, so she just nodded. Daniel nodded back and pointed to yet another sketch on the paper. "As you can see here, Echowick is shaped like a cross. The main building is the one the Wings all branch off of. It has three levels: the Potions classrooms are underground, the main floor is the cafeteria and kitchens, and on the top is the Observatory where students learn Astronomy." Cari nodded again and Daniel slid from his perch on the wall. "Come on, let's get you moved in."

The nerves returned, but had lessened slightly. Likely her mind was still trying to process all the information about how the school was set up. Fortunately, whatever her father had done to the bags earlier was still in effect, because all Cari's bags were easy to handle. Just before she shut her door the last time, Cari remembered to lean in and grab her cup of soda, taking a fortifying gulp of Coke before following her father.

It took a great deal of concentration to dodge through the groups of students standing everywhere. Daniel pointed ahead of them, explaining, "We're at a standstill right now because we all have to walk through that spot up there- do you see it? It's a path between all the trees. It's warded, and serves as another layer of protection for Echowick. Unless you're a student, parent, or staff member, you can't get through it."

Cari stood on her toes, trying to catch a glimpse of the path her father was describing, but she wasn't tall enough. Unfortunately, the shift in balance set off a bad chain of events: her duffel bag slid from her shoulder, traveling down to jerk at the crook of her elbow. This came close to making Cari drop her soda and upset the box of supplies in her hands, but a hand grabbed the bag even as another held Cari's arm still, keeping her and all her belongings upright.

Startled, Cari turned and found herself staring into the eyes of the boy she had seen on the day of entrance exams. "Hey!" he said in warm surprise. "You're Licaria, right?"

She winced and corrected automatically, "Yeah, but I go by Cari. Cuts down on the Listeria jokes, you know?"

The boy grinned appreciatively. "I get that. I'm Shadow. I don't know if you remember me." She nodded, catching a glimpse of his dark-haired friend standing a short distance away.

"Cari?" her father asked. "Who is this?"

Shadow grinned widely and stretched a hand out to Daniel. "Hello, sir. My name is Shadow Hale. I met your daughter briefly at-"

"-the entrance exams, I remember," Daniel finished with the boy. "I'm not likely to forget a name like that. Mind if I ask how you came by it?"

Shadow shrugged, giving Cari an easy-going, _See, I told you so_ face. "When my mom was in the hospital having me, a Seer was being treated for some kind of injury. She wandered into the room just as I was born and she screamed when she saw me. She warned my mother that I was 'born with the shadow of death looming over me'. Before either of my parents could do anything, she slipped out of the door and disappeared. A few minutes later, I had a minor seizure and my heart stopped. The hospital had to rush to save my life and obviously they did, but it was a pretty close call. My mom and dad decided that my name was going to be Shadow, that way they would always remember not to take me for granted." He grimaced and added, "Made for a fun time with the bullies in elementary school, though."

Daniel's face grew concerned. "You were bullied?"

In a tone approaching pride, Shadow said, "Never for long, sir."

Daniel laughed. "That's what I like to hear!" He appeared to be ready to say something else, but Cari grabbed his arm and began pushing him forward.

"The crowd has thinned out, Dad. We can get through now."

Shadow trailed behind them. "Where are you headed?"

Over his shoulder, Daniel called, "Physical Wing, 1D. How about you?"

"Physical Wing, 1B! How about that? We're going to be across-the-hall neighbors!" Feeling utterly awkward and nervous, Cari didn't make eye contact, though she could feel Shadow's gaze on her back. How was she going to keep from embarrassing herself in front of this boy if he lived right across the hall?

Fortunately, there was no chance for further concentration as the group shuffled along the tree-lined path through the line of trees. Somewhere in the middle of it, Cari experienced a violent shudder that she couldn't manage to repress. _That must have been that extra protection Dad was talking about_. Once they got past the trees, Cari found herself staring at a beautiful school. They were looking between two of the wings, made of a light, highly-polished stone. Ivy climbed the walls, just as it did the administrative building. Idly, Cari wondered if gardeners planted and trained the ivy, but words in sections cleared of plants soon caught her attention. One of the wings she was facing had large black letters spelling out 'Academics' in a bold, official-looking font while the other one used splashes of constantly color-changing paint to make up the letters of 'Arts'.

They didn't follow the crowd so much as they were carried along by it, and eventually were washed onto a marble staircase. Climbing it, they found that it lead up to a balcony encircling the outside of the school's main building. The walkway was bustling with students and parents hauling luggage in every direction imaginable. Several people wearing official-looking badges stood at the junctures of the covered walkway, calling out directions and answers to shouted questions. Daniel, showing his familiarity with the school, led Cari and Shadow around to the southernmost hall, which a small overhead sign identified as the Physical Expertise Wing. A guide wearing black robes trimmed in a bluish-gray smiled as they walked by. Giving Daniel a friendly nod, she didn't bother to ask which Wing they were looking for.

Once they reached the relative peace of the Physical Wing, Cari turned and found that Shadow was alone. "Where did your friend go?" she asked.

Shadow glanced around confusedly before realization struck. "Oh, you mean Chayton? He was placed in a different wing. He's probably off to find his room."

"Where was he placed?" Cari asked. It wasn't that she especially cared about the unfriendly, sullen-seeming boy, but she was always curious about people.

Instead of answering, Shadow merely grinned as he said, "I think it would be more entertaining for you to ask him yourself. And you should. Make sure you do the next time you see him."

Cari shrugged noncommittally. She definitely wasn't going to be one to strike up a conversation. In fact, she was making it a personal goal to keep her head down and fly under the radar for at least six months. Daniel, doing his best to ignore both kids, kept up a steady pace ahead of them and quickly located the first staircase in the hallway. Cari shuffled slightly sideways before she followed him. This box could be the death of her yet.

Smoothly, Shadow lifted the box from her hands and gestured with his chin for her to descend the staircase ahead of him. Cari tried to take the box back, thanking him but insisting it wasn't necessary, but Shadow had an iron grip. He began weaving back and forth, lowering the box at odd intervals. "Cari, if you don't go down the stairs, I might drop your box." She stared at him, unimpressed. "So heavyyyy…" he groaned dramatically.

"Hey, guy, need some help with that?" Cari saw that a tall blonde boy had walked up behind Shadow, adjusting the black diving watch on his right wrist.

She smiled at the newcomer. "Yeah, I think he does. He's been struggling for a couple of minutes now. I've offered to give him a hand, but he won't take my help."

The boy was apparently confused by her tone, judging from the scowl on his solid-jawed face, but grabbed the box from Shadow. It was so much lighter than he had expected that he nearly threw it in the air. "What the- You were having trouble carrying this?"

As Shadow tried desperately to save face and explain what was going on, Cari turned and sauntered down the stairs, wearing a self-satisfied smirk. Daniel caught sight of her and groaned. "I know that look! Cari, what did you do?"

Cari raised her eyebrows and frowned in what she hoped was an innocently confused manner. "I don't know what you're talking about."

At that moment, Shadow came down the staircase, talking to the blonde boy who was still carrying the box. "No, I was just trying to mess with her, you see?" He turned to Cari and said, "You've got a mean streak. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Accepting her box from the new boy, she sniffed, "No they have not. Being deliberately mean isn't in my character." Daniel snorted and Shadow quirked a grin as Cari amended, "Unless I am provoked to do so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dorm room to explore."

Shadow turned to the other boy. "Hey, I'm Shadow. Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

The boys shook hands as he said, "Nice to meet you, Shadow. My name is Eric Wilkerson."

"Nice to meet you too, Eric. Where is your dorm?"

Eric nodded at the door they stood in front of. "1B. I already brought my things here earlier. I've just been helping people carry stuff around."

"Hey, I'm 1B as well!" Shadow said excitedly. "Which room are you in?"

"One."

"Nice to meet you, roomie!"

Cari fought not to roll her eyes as the two boys retreated into the dorm, immediately chatting back and forth like old friends. She looked at her own door, then at her father. "Was I supposed to get a key? Because I really don't feel like walking all the way back there."

Daniel held out the stack of papers he still held. "There should be an envelope in here somewhere. The key will be inside of that."

Setting her box on the ground, Cari was shuffling through the sheaf when the door popped open. A pretty girl with dark hair paused in the doorway, brown eyes wide in surprise. She looked from Cari to Daniel in surprise, then saw the papers in Cari's hand. "Are you Licaria, by any chance?"

Cari nodded. "Please call me Cari. And you are?"

The girl squealed and waved a perfectly manicured hand. "I'm Lydia Abrams. We're roommates!"

Grinning widely at the girl's exuberance, Daniel grabbed the box before Cari could. "I'll carry this inside while you two get better acquainted."

Since Lydia was still watching Cari with excitement, she couldn't give her father the face he deserved for throwing her to the… well, 'wolf' wasn't exactly how she would describe the girl, but 'puppy' sounded a lot less impressive. It didn't matter: Daniel was already inside, somehow transporting everything but the duffel bag still looped over Cari's shoulder. "So, Lydia," she said conversationally, "How did you get placed in the Physical Wing?"

Lydia pulled a disgusted face. "I have no idea. I was hoping for Arts, but who wasn't, right? Anyway, we're the only girls' dorm for the first-years in the Physical Wing."

Cari gaped. "The _only_ one? How is that possible?"

Giving a graceful shrug, Lydia explained, "Well, Echowick is a pretty small school. We're really just here to handle the overflow from Ilvermorny. And most girls don't end up in the Physical Wing. Those two," she pointed across the hall, "are first-year boys' dorms and the one next to us is a dorm for the second-year girls." She leaned closer and murmured, "No promises, but I'm pretty sure I saw a hot blonde guy walking into the dorm across from ours. Fingers crossed that he actually lives there!" She literally entwined two fingers on each hand and crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself with her eyes tightly closed.

Cari watched for a moment, enthralled by the girl's strange behavior, but cleared her throat and said, "His name is Eric." Lydia's eyes flew open and Cari explained, "I kind of know his roommate."

Lydia's mouth dropped open as she cast a look of calculating admiration in Cari's direction. "It's not even the first day of school yet and you already have a boyfriend?"

"What? No! I met him on the day of placement tests and then he ended up walking with my dad and I on the way here. Definitely not a boyfriend."

With a skeptical look on her face, Lydia grabbed Cari's hand and tugged her toward their new dorm. "Come on, you have to see what I did! I decorated our room! Hope you don't mind." The comments were thrown over her new roommate's shoulder and Cari could hardly stifle a giggle at the girl's enthusiasm.

The urge to laugh disappeared as Cari studied her new home. A short hallway stretched ahead of her, leading straight to the back of the apartment. Each wall had two doors, except the one facing her from the end of the hall, which held a framed picture of the Echowick Crest. All the doors were open and Lydia dragged Cari through the first open door on the left.

Open-mouthed, Cari looked at their room. It was average-sized and had probably started the day on the plain side. Hard wood floors were polished to a shiny finish and the walls and ceiling were painted a flat white. There were two beds, one against the left wall and one against the right. At the foot of each bed was a squat little dresser, and each bed had a small bedside table next to its head, on either side of a medium window. Cari walked forward to touch said window, resting her fingertips on its cool glass. Thinking through her mental understanding of the building's blueprints, she asked, "How do we have a window?"

Softly, Daniel said, "It's magic. If you ask your dorm advisor, they can teach you how to change the scenery outside. Right now, it's on the default setting: _Echowick Forests_. If you open the window, you'll be able to hear the wind in the trees and feel the breeze. It'll get dark when it's dark here, or storm when it's storming outside."

Behind them, Lydia stomped her foot. "I did all this work and you're seriously going to ask questions about the window?"

Turning back to the room, Cari did feel a little ashamed. It was obvious Lydia had put a lot of work into making the room her own. White string lights lined the tops of the walls, a single strand hanging down here and there in an artful line. Lydia's bedspread was a bright turquoise, accented by brown pillowcases and a brown-and-turquoise lamp on her bedside table. A throw rug spread on the floor between their beds continued the color scheme, the blue-green lines forming an interesting Aztec design against the chocolate brown. Lydia had hung a wide canvas painting of a tropical beach on her wall. The color of the water perfectly matched her bedspread. On the rear wall, bulletin boards hung on either side of the door, each one with a small desk pushed to face the wall beneath it. Lydia's already had a tropical-themed calendar and her acceptance letter hanging from it.

After watching Cari examine the room, Lydia eagerly asked, "Well? What do you think?"

Perching on her own white bedspread, Cari let out a deep breath. "I think it's amazing. You definitely should have been placed in the Arts Wing, because this took some major talent."

Lydia frowned slightly as she agreed, but shook her head and moved on. "I forgot! This bedspread was for a college dorm room, so it came with another full set of stuff. If you want, you can have the other one. It'll be a brown spread with turquoise pillows. That way, our room will completely match!" She folded hands under her chin and batted her eyelashes. "Please?"

Cari nodded disinterestedly before remembering how nice it had been for Lydia to do this. "Of course! I would really like that. Are you sure you're okay with just giving me a bedspread?"

Nodding heartily, Lydia said, "Of course! Why do you think I asked my mom to get this one? Besides, it would drive me crazy having a mismatched room all year. To be honest, you would be doing me a favor."

Cari shook her head, smiling. Her father shifted and cleared his throat slightly as Cari's chest tightened. Her suspicions were confirmed when Daniel said, "Well, Cari, I think it's probably time that I headed back home. Did you need any help unpacking or…"

He trailed off and Cari shook her head. Blinking back the tears pricking at her eyes, she reached up to give her dad a hug. He gripped her tightly, almost as tightly as Naomi had earlier. Cari swallowed a few times and Daniel said, "Just remember, honey, if you need anything, ask one of the staff members we talked to earlier to tell me and we'll figure something out. I love you."

A tear crept out, rolling down Cari's cheek as she nodded. "I'll remember. I love you, too, Dad."

Trying desperately to hide the tears in his own eyes, Daniel turned and walked to the door. Before he left the room, he turned back and said with a smile, "I'm proud of you, Cari. Your mom and I both are." He walked out and Cari heard the front door shut a moment later.

She turned to find Lydia smiling at her sympathetically as she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind a small ear. Cari noted that she was wearing gold, heart-shaped earrings, each one decorated with a tiny diamond, but the distraction wasn't enough to stop a fresh flood of tears. She held out a box of tissues. "When my mother dropped me off, I cried for almost an hour," she confided. "There aren't a lot of tissues left, but you can have however many you need."

Cari let out a choked laugh as she accepted the mostly-empty box.

* * *

Author's Note \- All right, five chapters! Go us! I know this one was a lot of technical information, but if you don't really get Echowick's layout, it isn't a big deal. Not super necessary, though it is interesting to note that this is a little longer than the typical length for most future chapters. As always, reviews are welcome, good or bad. Feedback of any kind is amazing! I forgot to post this in last week's Author's Note, but a big thank-you to HarryPotterFanHermione for the kind review. That made my week! Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have an amazing week!


	6. Welcome To Echowick

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ This story takes place in the universe of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and thus, the story can be said to belong to her.

* * *

Welcome To Echowick

A few hours later, Lydia and Cari were getting ready to leave their dorm. Both of the girls from Room 3 had appeared, greeting Cari and Lydia briefly before retreating to their own room. Their names were Sarah and Megan, but they hadn't had time to have a decent conversation. A member of the housing staff had stopped by in the mid-afternoon and told Cari and Lydia that there would be a mandatory meeting for first-year students in the cafeteria at four-thirty. They were requested to wear their robes. At four-fifteen, Cari and Lydia walked out the door. A pretty girl with dirty-blonde hair stood just outside the door.

"Oh, hello!" Lydia said brightly.

The girl surveyed the roommates with cool brown eyes. Cari realized with a sinking feeling that she had seen the girl before just as the new arrival said, "I'm Kimber Strickland. Do you two live in here?" She gestured at the door with her chin.

Lydia nodded. "Are you one of the girls who live in Room 1?"

"The," Kimber corrected. When Cari and Lydia stared at her in confusion, she repeated, "I'm _the_ girl who lives in Room 1. I was never assigned a roommate, and they told me this morning that there are only five first-years in the Physical Wing. Now if you'll excuse me." She half-pushed past the two of them, probably to deposit her belongings in her room.

Turning to Cari, Lydia said in a deeply offended tone, "Uh, wow. What is her problem?"

"It's kind of my fault. My bloodline is offensive to Kimber and her family." Before Lydia could say anything, Cari shrugged. "Let's just get to this meeting." Conveniently for them, there was a door right next to their dorm leading straight in to the cafeteria. The room was huge, lined with seven long tables. One table at the end of the room sat perpendicular to the others. Across the room, the opposite wall featured a large fireplace. The high ceilings reminded Cari of the inside of a cathedral, reinforced by the supports arching up the walls. The floor was stone and the same false windows adorned the walls between the doors from each wing and framed Echowick crests hung in several locations.

The Headmistress stood at the head the table furthest to the left, waiting with a patient look on her face. There were a small handful of students already seated, so Cari and Lydia hurriedly joined them. Fortunately, they didn't have long to wait. The other students trickled in and everyone was directed to sit at the same table by the Headmistress. She must have been counting, because just as the last student was seated, she began purposefully, "Welcome, students, to The Echowick Institute. Tomorrow marks the beginning of your first day here." Murmurs at the table started, growing louder before Fleet's sharp voice cut through them, "I'm glad you're excited; however, there are some things we need to go over before you are truly ready to become members of the school.

"First of all," she explained, gesturing to indicate the room, "This is the cafeteria. All meals will be served here. This table will be yours for the rest of this year. We sit according to years here. You may, of course, dine with students of another age, but you must be invited to sit with them. We want you to concentrate on connecting with peers your own age for now. You may see this as no more than a school at which to learn magic, but these are connections you will have for your entire life.

"Your Wings are divided into dorms, some for male students and some for females. Males may not enter female dorms and females may not enter male dorms. As you progress through your school years, you will be moved further and further down your Wing. Classes are in the upper rooms of your Wings, marked with a section of letters. For example, a class taking place in the Arts Wing will be labeled as AR Wing, Building 1, Classroom 1 on your schedule. A shortened version will be outside the door of the classroom. Please bring your textbook, paper, and a pencil for the first day of class and be sure to dress in your robes. You may notice that an average of one room per building is labeled with 'SL'. This designates a room as a student lounge. They are equipped with couches, televisions, a small bookshelf, refrigerators, microwaves, et cetera. You may feel free to spend your non-class time in these rooms with your fellow students. These rooms are not restricted by Wings, though like your tables here in the cafeteria, you must be invited to be in a student lounge in a year above your own.

"Classes begin at eight a.m. sharp, and each one lasts fifty-five minutes. At eleven fifty-five, you will come here for lunch. The last class of the day ends at two fifty-five in the afternoon. For those of you who are following along, that only make up six of your seven classes. Your Astronomy classes will take place at night, for obvious reasons. You will be placed with one of the other Wings in most of your classes. Class size is less than twenty, to allow more one-on-one time between you and your teachers. As for meals, breakfast will be served every morning from six to eight, or six to ten on weekends. Lunch is twelve to one, and dinner is available from five to seven. Curfew for first-year Echowick students is nine pm. We have Wing leaders who will check to be sure that everyone is in their dorm rooms by this time. Failure to observe curfew will result in a detention.

"Several of you have expressed an interest in Quidditch. Yes, the school does have a pitch and the teams are made up of students from each Wing, though you must be in your second year before you may try out. Be warned that our pitch is small. Echowick places an emphasis on education, not sports. For those of you brought up in the Muggle world, I'm sure one of your classmates would be happy to explain the sport to you. And for all of you who may be tempted, please remember that Quodpot is not to be played on the grounds of any wizarding school on this continent, per order of the North American Wizarding Council Act 247c. Any violators will be turned in to authorities.

"And finally," she concluded with a pointed look at a small group at the far end of the table, "There have been some doubts about our security. Please rest assured that no uninvited outsider has ever made it to Echowick. Each one of you had to pass by the guard shack on your way in. We have the best guards in the wizarding world, who check every guest attempting to get onto the grounds. Those who do not belong here are redirected. Even if an unwanted guest made it past our gate guards, their arrival would trigger the wards in my office and I could confront the intruders myself."

A pleasant note filled the silence after the Headmistress's final statement. She bowed her head, clasping her hands together before her until the note ended. "That tone indicates that a class period is over or that a meal is beginning. The other students should be arriving soon. I will address a few things before we begin eating dinner. You will have heard several of them already, but please remain quietly seated. Thank you and welcome to Echowick." She returned to the head table, allowing the first years to talk among themselves.

A familiar voice from the opposite direction made Cari turn. Sure enough, across the table and to the left a short distance sat Shadow, flanked by Eric and Chayton. They were talking animatedly to each other, ignorant of the admiring gazes cast in their direction. It would seem that the Echowick first-years already had a popular group forming.

Shadow glanced over and, catching sight of Cari, elbowed Chayton in the ribs. "Hey! Tell Cari where you were placed. I told her that she would have to hear it from you." Heads turned to Cari as the rest of the students attempted to discover who the newest addition to the group was.

Chayton shot Cari a ' _isn't he such an idiot_ ' look and she hesitantly smiled back. In a bored tone, he said, "I'm in the Arts Wing. No, I don't like it. No, I don't know why I was placed there. No, I don't want to talk about it."

Nodding understandingly, Cari looked back at Shadow, who had a wide grin on his face. The boy sitting on Cari's left shifted to smooth down his dark red hair, drawing Shadow's attention. Ever-friendly, he held out a hand and said, "Hey, I'm Shadow."

The boy shook Shadow's hand. "Hi, nice to meet you. Call me Vertie."

Shadow stared at the boy for a second. "Vertie?"

The boy's face colored slightly. "Well, my full name's Veritas Alexandros Fletchmeister. Pure-Blooded parents, am I right?" He gave an awkward laugh. "Anyway, just call me Vertie, okay?"

Shadow laughed. "Not a chance. ' _Fletchmeister_ '?" He repeated, obviously savoring the name. "That's gold! We'll never call you anything else."

Vertie's forehead crinkled. "Hey, if you're just going to mock me…"

Shadow's face grew earnest. "No, I'm not, I swear! I just seriously admire your last name. Please let me call you Fletchmeister."

Vertie studied Shadow's face, green eyes searching for any hint of mockery. Apparently finding none, he sighed and said, "Fine. You can call me Fletchmeister." Shadow, Eric, and Chayton whooped, half-standing to shake Vertie's hand and pat him on the back.

Trying to avoid being hit in the celebration, Cari leaned heavily into Lydia. The girl took the opportunity to hiss into Cari's ear, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Cari, ashamed by her lack of manners, began her introductions as soon as the boys calmed back down. "Guys, this is Lydia, my roommate. Lydia, this is Shadow and Eric, who live across the hall; Chayton of the Arts Wing, and Vertie of the- Hey, where were you placed, Vertie?"

Shadow cupped a hand around the back of his ear, leaning exaggeratedly in Cari's direction. "Who? I'm sorry, who were you speaking to? I don't know anyone named Vertie…"

Cari sighed, rolling her eyes apologetically at Vertie, who just shrugged. "I'm in the Academics Wing. And you can call me Fletchmeister, too."

Lydia, leaning out from behind Cari, waved at the group. "It's nice to meet you all," she called. They greeted her back. By this point, they were all fairly shouting across the table. _It'll be a miracle if all the first-years don't hate us by the end of dinner_ , Cari thought. She wasn't going to rein in her new friends, however. This was the first real social group she'd ever been a part of, and she wasn't going to ruin it. Not if she could help it.

Soon enough, the cafeteria was full and the Headmistress rose to speak. "Greetings, Echowick students, and welcome to the start of another year. For some of you, this is the beginning of your educational journey." Fleet paused, and the barest hint of a smile touched her mouth as she continued, "For others, this is the last one of my start-of-year speeches you will hear. I would hazard a guess that none of you will miss them. As always, your classes will begin at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Your schedules have been mailed to you, but if you did not receive one or left yours behind, please come see me after dinner."

The rest of the speech was focused on topics covered in the lecture that the Headmistress had given to the first-years, so Cari soon tuned it out, concentrating on looking at all the other students instead. Idly, she wondered why all the upper-year students had colorful robes while all the ones worn by the first-years were solid black. Her musing came to an abrupt halt as she heard Fleet say, "If you will please direct your attention to the first-year's table, I would like to introduce to you the newest Echowick additions. First-years, please stand."

Obediently, the students rose, moving from behind the bench seats to stand unencumbered. When they had all risen, Professor Fleet cleared her throat officiously, pulling out her wand. "Let us begin with our Academics students." She pointed her wand sharply at the group of students. Many of them jumped, others gasping or even shrieking in surprise. Craning her neck, Cari could see that some of the students' robes were now trimmed in a shining gold. Fleet spoke again. "The gold represents the precious nature of our Academics students. Their malleable intellect will be molded to fit a number of disciplines over the next seven years, and will take the bright spark of their hard work into the world."

"Next, our students from the Politics Wing." She made the same sharp motion and some of the students wore robes trimmed with glimmering silver. "Silver is highly conductive, and our Politics students will prove themselves to be attuned to the ideas and theories they come across. Silver may be polished to shine brightly, but will tarnish if exposed to the wrong elements. Keep yourselves pure from corruption, dear students, for you will guard the safety of our world, whether physical, moral, or legal."

"And now for our Arts students," Fleet gestured dramatically with her wand, causing a little more than half of the remaining students found themselves wearing black robes trimmed with a deeply burnished bronze. "Bronze is versatile and easily adapted; you will be shaped to possess any variety of skills during your years at this Institute, some of which may surprise us all. Bronze is also low friction. You will find yourselves welcome in any facet of wizarding society and with your talents, you may even be sought after." Cari smiled to see Chayton looking cautiously proud of his new Wing.

"Finally, our students of Physical Expertise," Fleet motioned a final time with her wand and Cari glanced down to see her robes trimmed in a smooth, almost glowing, bluish-gray. "You bear robes representing steel. It is made of iron, soft at first, until mixed with other metals to make steel. Steel is strong, used reliably as a building material. As steel is used to shape a building, so will you shape our very society. Mix yourselves well with the other metals of your fellow students and the education offered to you here at Echowick, and become strong steel by your graduation."

The Headmistress began the applause, which was taken up immediately by the rest of the school. She motioned for the first-years to be seated and allowed the clapping to stop before she continued, "Despite their Wing affiliation, I hope you older students will guide the first-years on their educational journey. Please stop by and make them feel welcome. Answer their questions and give advice. Help them as others helped you. Finally, I ask for the help of everyone in making this another wonderful school year at Echowick Institute." There was another round of applause before Fleet said, "Please, enjoy the first meal of this year."

"Finally!" several of the first-years exclaimed, but Cari noticed with amusement that many of her fellow students kept reaching up to pat the collars of their newly-colorful robes.

It was a pleasant meal, filled with conversation and laughter. Thinking back on Fleet's first-year address, Cari had to ask, "What was this Kiditt thing Fleet was talking about?"

She received blank stares from all around the table. "What?" Vertie finally asked.

Cari shrugged, face heating. "I don't know; she said something about a sport that we can watch but not play until second year…"

Shadow roared with laughter, getting the same blank stares as Cari had been receiving. Finally, he managed to choke out, "Qu- Quidditch! It's called _Quidditch!_ " There was a moment of silence – other than Shadow's continued laughing – before everyone else caught on and laughed just as loudly as he had. Cari lowered her reddening face, picking at her food.

Cari didn't see the look the girl across the table was giving her, so it was a shock when she set down her fork with a sharp clatter. "You guys are so loud." The words were a little abrupt, but her tone was open and conversational. Everyone paused to look at her, searching for any hint of censure or irritation, but saw none.

Cari was the first to speak. "I agree, and I apologize for them. My name is-"

The girl smiled, displaying deep-set dimples as she cheerfully interrupted. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know all of your names by now." Pointing around the table, she listed off, "Lydia, Cari, Fletchmeister, Chayton, Shadow, and Eric. I heard. I'm Tessa, by the way. Academics Wing." She gave a small wave.

The group called out various greetings and apologies for the previous noise. Tessa waved them off, pushing back her long, light brown hair. "It doesn't matter, really. So, what are we talking about?"

With only a slight hint of laughter in his voice, Eric said, "Quidditch. Cari was asking about Quidditch. She doesn't know what it is."

"Ooh," Tessa cooed, leaning forward. "I love Quidditch! You don't know anything about it?"

Cari shook her head and the information started flying, everyone talking at once. When the noise died down, Cari had grasped that Quidditch was a sport played on broomsticks with seven players on a team. She was still a little fuzzy on the point system, but with a group of fellow students staring at her, Cari merely nodded and tried to look like she understood.

"So," Shadow trailed, "What do you think?"

Giving up on looking knowledgeable, Cari just shrugged. "I don't know. It sounds pretty weird and I'm not really that into sports." There was a mixture of disappointment and challenge on the faces of her new friends, present in varying degrees.

By now, dessert had been served and most of the other students had finished their meals. No one from the other tables rose, however. They all seemed to be watching the Headmistress, waiting. Sure enough, she stood and dismissed them back to their dorms with a final reminder for Wing leaders to check on the younger students. As the students all stood and began to filter out of the cafeteria, an older boy with hair and eyes of the same shade as Tessa's walked up and slung an arm around her. "How's it going, sis?"

Tessa playfully shrugged him off. "Guys, this is my brother Steven. What's going on, Steve?"

Steve shrugged. "Fleet said to come over and say hi to you guys and I try not to make her mad. She's one scary lady. Anyway, like my baby sister said, I'm Steven, Steve for short, and I'm a fourth-year in the Politics Wing. Any questions I can answer for you guys?"

In keeping with the dinner conversation, Shadow's first question was, "Who are the Quidditch team captains around here?"

Steve nodded as though he had been expecting this question. "Well, I think the captain of the Academics Wing already left. Janet's not much of a night owl. That guy is the captain for the Politics Wing, Ravinger Kaine." Steve pointed out a hulking male who strode through the crowd as if expecting it would part for him – and it did. His brunette hair was short and meticulously neat, leaving no strands to obstruct the haughty look on his handsome face.

Cari let out a breath and spoke without thinking, "Well. He's terrifying."

The rest of the group nodded, agreeing completely with her observation. Steve shook his head. "This should be obvious, but I feel compelled to warn you: do not get in Kaine's way. In fact, just avoid any and all contact with him if possible. It should be easy, since he's a sixth-year. You'll probably be beneath his notice altogether." His eyes widened as he watched Kaine approach another student. "And that guy he's walking up behind is Niccolo Rossi, the Quidditch captain for the Physical Wing. He and Ravinger are the two captains who aren't in seventh-year. Niccolo's in sixth as well, but is incredibly talented. He's the reason the Physical Wing's been winning the past few years. He and Kaine hate each other."

The group watched with fascination as Ravinger walked up behind Niccolo. Cari had to admit that the Physical Wing captain didn't look like much. He was tall but slender, and his dark hair was shaggy, falling into dark eyes. He didn't see the beast approaching. Ravinger swaggered up, evidently attempting to knock Niccolo's shoulder from behind, but the boy stepped sideways at the last minute, avoiding the majority of the collision. He turned, tensed, and Cari had to review her impression of him. What had appeared to be slender height was actually lean muscle, and his reflexes were to be admired. Ravinger reached out – to do what, Cari wasn't certain – but Niccolo had already adjusted his stance, hooking one foot behind Ravinger's and fighting his lean to push the Politics Captain back, smoothly allowing the other student to trip and fall backwards.

Ravinger's shout as he hit the ground attracted attention from most of the people left in the cafeteria, including the Headmistress herself. She approached, surveying the situation with crossed arms. Fleet fixed Rossi with a stern gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Rossi, will you please help Mr. Kaine to stand?" Wordlessly, Rossi nodded and stretched an arm down to the other boy. Kaine grasped it so that each boy was gripping the other's forearm. Rossi easily pulled Kaine to his feet, forcing Cari to adjust her mental understanding of his strength once again.

When Kaine was on his feet again, Professor Fleet turned away, but the struggle was not over. Cari watched the muscles in Kaine's forearm struggle as he gripped Rossi's arm tighter and tighter. She leaned over to Steve. "That isn't fair, is it? Is Niccolo strong enough to make Ravinger let go before he suffers actual damage to his arm?"

One corner of Steve's mouth lifted in a wry grin. "I wouldn't worry too much about Rossi. I've heard reports that he does very well with pressure points…"

Even as Steve's explanation trailed off, Rossi made a sharp gesture with three of his fingers, digging them deeply into Kaine's forearm. With a sharp curse, Kaine released Rossi's arm, shot him a hate-filled glare, and turned away. Niccolo's mouth moved in the barest hint of a smile, staring after his enemy. A pretty blonde-haired girl twined herself around him.

Dryly, Fletchmeister noted, "Well, at least his girlfriend is hot."

Steve gave an amused snort. "Arsenia? She is most definitely not Rossi's girlfriend. She's a second-year Arts Wing student who will do anything to be close to students in a position of power. Anything. Nic dislikes her, but he's too respectful to say anything that harsh. Of all the reasons that he wouldn't date her, the one he admits to is her age. Four years is just too big an age gap. Hasn't stopped Arsenia yet, but it's not due to lack of trying. Hopefully, she'll latch onto someone else soon, if just to give Nic a break." As they watched the pair, Niccolo was already extricating himself from Arsenia. When he was free, he turned and exited the cafeteria through the Physical dorm door. He hadn't spoken a single word to anyone.

Seeming to shake himself, Steve studied their surroundings. "Hey, you guys probably better head back to your rooms. It's getting pretty late and Fleet is already giving us the eye." Thanking the older boy for his insight and explanations, the first-years left in their separate directions, headed for bed. Lydia and Cari were the last to walk into their dorm, and so were the last to use the bathroom. By the time Cari came back to her room, dressed in pajamas with freshly-brushed teeth, Lydia was already asleep, snoring gently. Before she slipped into bed, Cari raised the glass of the window by a few inches, falling asleep minutes later to the sound of crickets, tree frogs, and the whisper of wind through the trees of Echowick.

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Author's Note \- We made it through another one! Lots of information, and I know that chunking isn't a good practice in writing, but since everyone knows Hogwarts' rules forwards and backwards, I thought it would be an interesting comparison between the two. With next chapter (and the start of the school year), the story will really start to move along. Thanks to HarryPotterFanHermione for last week's review, and I apologize for not making my timing more clear. This story is set more modern-day (2006 right now), but the events of the books are still happening with all the characters. Basically, instead of taking place in the 1990s, everything takes place in the 2000s. Hope that clears everything up! Reviews are always appreciated, but no pressure. Have a great day, guys!


	7. The First Day

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I still do not own any copyrights, trademarks, etc. in regards to the _Harry Potter_ series by J.K. Rowling. The only parts of this story that I own are those original elements, mostly because no one else would want them anyway.

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The First Day

Cari woke up early the next morning and was the first to be dressed, ready to leave the room by six-thirty. Lydia, obviously favoring a later start, told her to go ahead to breakfast. After a final check to make sure she had all the books and supplies she would need, Cari donned her robes and did as her roommate suggested.

The cafeteria was close to empty so early in the day. The fireplace was cold, but the false windows were thrown open. Curious, Cari walked close enough to one that she could feel the pine-scented breeze blowing gently inside. Maybe the cafeteria windows were a more expensive model that came equipped with air effects? The one in her dorm room certainly didn't. She was sure she would have noticed it at some point the night before.

Once she had checked out the window, Cari wandered over to the first-year table. There were only two other students sitting there and she didn't know either of them. Settling on the bench, she reached for the oatmeal, ladling a small bowl of it before buttering a slice of toast. With that and a glass of orange juice, her breakfast was ready, but Cari found that she didn't have much of an appetite. She picked at the oatmeal, distracted, and stared off into space while trying to imagine what her classes were going to be like.

A slamming sound made her jump, snapping her head up and toward the sound. Shadow was on the other side of the table, pushing a stack of textbooks aside and failing to fight back a grin. Cari made a face at him when he said good morning. Shadow gave an exaggerated yawn. "I don't think I slept more than half an hour last night."

Cari smiled, but studied her new friend. He did look a little pale, but he also appeared to have an interesting tinge of green in his face. "Nerves?" she guessed out loud.

Shadow nodded fervently. "But I don't know why. It's school! Not like they're going to expect us to walk into the classroom and know everything. I just feel like something is eating a hole in my stomach."

Cari knew exactly what he was talking about, so it was her turn to nod in sympathy for the boy. With a voice shockingly like her mother's, Cari said, "Well, nerves or not, you need to make sure you eat something. Learning is a lot harder when you're unconscious."

When Shadow laughed, some of the color sprang back into his face. He helped himself to some bacon strips and a bowl of biscuits and gravy. Cari wanted to shake her head at his choices, but at least he was eating something, and that was more than she was doing. She forced herself to take a bite of oatmeal. With both Shadow and Cari concentrating on making themselves eat, it was a meal taken in silence. She did have to admit, however, that the quiet was companionable rather than awkward.

The others arrived one by one and soon, the conversation was flowing along naturally. Everyone who had sat together the night before sat in the same group now. About forty-five minutes before classes started, Cari saw Kimber walk in and sit - alone - a few seats down from Lydia. Kicking her roommate under the table, Cari got Lydia's attention and nodded toward their dorm-mate. She and Lydia had known each other for less than a day, but the girl managed to pick up on what Cari was trying to communicate with ease. _If I invite her, she won't accept. You talk to her, ask her to join us._

Lydia narrowed her eyes, expressing her dislike of the situation, but still called, "Hey, Kimber, do you wanna join us?" Kimber looked over in surprise, gaze flicking from face to face around their little circle – sliding past Cari, of course. Lydia continued, wheedling, "Come on, it's just for breakfast. We'll probably be hanging out with these guys a lot this year, so you might as well get used to them now."

A cautious look in her brown eyes, Kimber still moved her plate down the table to join them. Introductions were made and the conversation continued on. Kimber contributed a comment every once in a while, though she would noticeably withdraw any time Cari was too involved. Shadow and Fletchmeister both gave her questioning looks when this happened, but Cari just responded with a shrug. She wasn't about to start trouble with a roommate she could potentially have for the next seven years. Besides, the story of the not-quite feud between their families would be a long and mood-killing one to tell over breakfast.

Sooner than any of the students could believe, it was 7:45 and time to go to class. The Physical and Academics Wings had Transfiguration first, so Shadow, Eric, Fletchmeister, Kimber, Lydia, Tessa, and Cari all trooped outside and up the stairs to Academics Building One, Classroom Two. Fortunately, they were among the first to arrive, so they sat in a large block in the middle of the room and chatted until everyone else arrived. Professor Perez was the last one in the room.

Even without the last name as a hint, Perez looked every inch of his Mexican heritage with his black hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. Regardless, he spoke with no trace of an accent, so Cari assumed he was from the area. "Well, class, we have our work cut out for us. Transfiguration is a lot of work for what some people say is little reward. Those people are wrong and probably stupid."

Somewhat stunned by Professor Perez's casual attitude, the class hesitantly giggled. He went on, "How many of you guys are lazy? Come on, be honest with yourselves. I'm lazy!" He raised his own hand, eventually joined by the majority of the class. "Of course you're lazy; you're almost teenagers! Well, let's say you need something, but it's in the other room. Are you going to get up and get it?" No one answered. "No, of course not! You're lazy! You're going to use your mastery of Transfiguration to change something you have close by into the thing that you need. Here is where you get that mastery. Work hard now so you can be lazy later."

When Perez dismissed them a little early, Cari was shocked to realize that she had actually learned a great deal. She had been nervous at the idea of a tough subject, but the Professor's relaxed attitude gave her confidence that she would be able to learn it.

After leaving Transfiguration, the group lost Fletchmeister and Tessa, who were off to a different class. The rest of them trooped back downstairs, into a hallway outside the cafeteria, and down another flight of stairs. The second staircase deposited them beneath the school in a huge, oddly airy room made entirely of stone. Two-person tables were arranged in neat lines through the room, pointed toward a solid-looking table at the front of the classroom. There was a large cauldron atop the burner built into the table. Cari could hear something bubbling away inside the pot, but nothing seemed to be boiling over, so she tried to ignore the noise and it seemed to fade away.

"Pssst… Hey, guys!" They all turned to find Chayton sitting at one of the tables in the back of the classroom. Shadow immediately went to join him, Eric and Kimber taking the table next to them. Lydia and Cari exchanged glances and shrugged at each other before claiming the third and final table in the back row of the classroom. Other students wearing robes adorned with copper and steel colors filled in the other tables, and everyone was seated by ten o'clock sharp.

A figure rose from a lone chair situated against one of the classroom walls. Cari had to blink a few times to be sure that someone was really there. How had she missed the person before? From the startled murmuring around the classroom, she hadn't been the only one. The robe-wrapped figure strode confidently to the front table. The figure wasn't walking quickly, but still the black material of robes flowed out behind their body dramatically.

Standing before the bubbling cauldron, the figure reached up and pushed back the hood in a smooth motion. It was a woman. She was of average height and build, but her features were arresting enough to make her distinctive. Her long hair, fanning out without the hood to keep it contained, was an arresting shade of silver, shot through with strands of dark gray and white. Her face, despite the hair, was youthful and lovely, made only slightly disconcerting by her eyes. Her irises were a pure black, blending into the pupils, and they stood out severely in contrast to the paleness of her skin and hair.

Her voice, when she spoke, was pleasant. "Greetings, students. I am your Potions teacher, Professor Brunn. Some of you are already asking how you failed to notice me seated against the wall. The answer is simple." She indicated the cauldron with a wide sweep of her arms. "The scent of this potion, if left to boil, will distract even the keenest of minds." She reached down and turned off the fuel supply to the flames, cutting off the heat. Almost immediately, Cari noticed that she was feeling better, more aware. "However, the school fears that you may be too young not to abuse the powers in this potion." She made a motion over the cauldron and any lingering traces of fogginess left Cari's mind. "I've Vanished the potion. You should be feeling back to normal now."

She began to pace back and forth across the front of the room, robes billowing. "Let this serve as a warning to you: Potions are not showy. They are subtle magic, not filled with grand gestures or flowing words. This makes it easy to underestimate the abilities of potions… and thus fall prey to their power." Cari, managing to briefly tear her gaze from the captivating teacher, noticed that all her classmates seemed totally enthralled. "However, for this year, we must focus on learning the basics of potion-making. We will devote roughly a week and a half learning all about a specific brew before we finally practice what we have learned. This cuts down on risks, I assure you. For now, let us focus on the theories presented in the first chapter of your _Handbook for the Novice Potion-Brewer_."

Professor Brunn proved to be a fascinating speaker. She wasn't funny like Professor Perez, but she was talented with breaking down complex information to be easily understood. She was so easy to listen to that no one realized class was running over the proper time until Brunn's incredibly dark eyes popped wide and she said, "Class, you are dismissed! Hurry on to your next class. What does everyone have?" It appeared that everyone had the same class, Magical Heritage, and the professor calmed. "If your professor has any questions, tell her to contact me and I'll explain why you're all late. See you tomorrow!"

Everyone rushed out the door, pouring in a large group to their next class in Politics Building One, Classroom Three. By the time they entered the classroom, the large clock on the wall read 10:04 and a familiar figure stood at the front of the room. "Professor Fleet?" students asked, parroting one another until the question slowly faded away. The headmistress looked at the clock, then at her students. She sighed. "Professor Brunn?"

They nodded and she motioned for them to sit down. "Professor Brunn always gets caught up on the first day. But it is no matter." Fleet's angled brows drew together as she surveyed the class. "Some of you expressed surprise that I am your teacher. Have none of you ready your textbook?"

Cari stared at the headmistress for a moment before digging her textbook out of her bag. The cover featured a large obsidian arrowhead with spiking turquoise letters spelling out _Magical Heritage: A Study of Tribal Magic_. In slightly smaller letters was _Written By Jadrian Fleet_. Awestruck, Cari looked back to the headmistress with wide eyes. Around her, other students were going through the same process, ending with the same expressions of shock.

Fleet coolly nodded. "Yes, I am the premier expert on Tribal Magic in North America, which makes me singularly qualified to teach this course. By your reactions, I assume that none of you have read from your books yet. Consider chapter one assigned. I expect you will have read it by tomorrow's class." She leaned back, resting slightly on her desk as she continued. "This class will focus, as should be obvious, on the tribal magic inherent on this continent. Whereas some places, such as Europe and South America, possessed magic from their very creation, legend says that our continent had to be filled with magic. Fortunately, our magical ancestors, the various Native American tribes who inhabited this area, were overflowing with a strong natural magic and, in its practice, imbued the land with it.

"The Echowick Institute is built on a section of land with a strong magical history. The tribes of this area designated it as the premier spot for harnessing magical energy and shared it among any tribe who wished to use it. From all accounts, hardly a day ever passed when this land did not see some type of ritual or invocation, and that magic has seeped into the land itself over years of use. This allows us to both use and contain magic with little effort on our part. Over the next two years, we will study different tribes of North America and their lives, rituals, and connection to the magical signature in the land."

One brave girl raised her hand and Fleet motioned for her to ask her question. "I'm sorry ma'am, but what about after the two years are over?"

Fleet raised an inky brow. "I didn't explain that last night?" They all shook their heads and Fleet sighed. "I suppose, as none of you have read your book, there is little else we may discuss today… Very well. This year, you will attend six classes each day, five days a week. You will attend your Astronomy class on the assigned night. Next year, you will attend six classes a day Monday through Thursday as well as your Astronomy class. On Fridays, you will attend two classes concerning your future career, one teaching the basics of that career and the other focusing on job opportunities. In your third year, you may drop two of your classes. That time will be filled with courses designed to teach you all the skills necessary to succeed in your chosen field. At that time, the classes you elect to continue on with will go more in depth. For Magical Heritage, we will do more research into the tribes we have briefly covered in the next two years, doing projects and taking field trips to experience their magic and way of life more thoroughly."

A forest of hands sprung up after her explanation, and the Headmistress found the rest of her class time completely taken up in explaining the scheduling methods employed by the school and what the students could expect by taking the expanded versions of each class. By the time class ended, various maps and schematics filled the board, surrounded by scribbled lists and half-finished diagrams. Cari felt she understood the school much better than she had previously. An obviously-exhausted Fleet dismissed them to their next classes with pleasure.

Saying goodbye to Chayton, the rest of the group walked off to the Arts Building One, Classroom One, where they found students from the Politics Wing waiting patiently for them. Scanning the faces, Cari found only one that she knew: the African-American boy who had amused her so much at her table for the Entrance Exam. Offering him a shy smile, Cari walked into the classroom behind Lydia. They again sat at a two-person table together, facing toward a whiteboard with _Professor Garbin_ scrawled across the top. A man stood behind a podium set up next to the blackboard. He was looking down, focusing on the papers he was shuffling in his hands.

Cari studied the man she assumed was Professor Garbin. He was average height and heavy-set, hair graying at his temples and missing from the top of his head. He eyed the class, beady eyes sharp in his round face. "If you'll sit down and stop talking, we can get started." Surprised by the abrupt display of temper, the class quieted immediately. He snapped the paper in his hands. "I am Professor Garbin, this is Charms I. Charms is a highly technical, easily underestimated branch of magic. It requires discipline, dedication, and strength. Some of you will find yourselves to be naturals. _Others_ will realize they lack the skills and show no promise whatsoever." Trying not to be overly sensitive, Cari still felt as though the last remark was directed toward her. Had Garbin's pale eyes rested on her for an uncomfortably long moment? _Don't be ridiculous, Cari,_ she coached herself. _He doesn't even know who you are._

She managed to convince herself that she was imagining things when there were no more odd moments during the Charms class. Professor Garbin did set a punishing pace, however, giving the class a chapter to read, homework questions to answer, and a wand motion to practice. " _Without_ saying anything! I don't need Howlers from your parents because one of you got carried away and slammed your study partner into the ceiling!" He dismissed them exactly on time. The students chatted excitedly as they rushed to lunch, but Cari's thoughts were focused on the class they had just left. It was possible that Professor Garbin already didn't like her. She would have to keep a close eye out for any future problems.

* * *

Author's Note \- Thanks for reading, as usual. I think this is the last section of far too much information. Fleet's explanation of Echowick's structure is the last step in establishing this strange little neighborhood in the _Harry Potter_ world. Sorry to cut off before the end of day one, but I didn't want to send you guys a chapter over 7,000 words. Anyway, reviews are welcome. Thanks again to my amazing loyal reader and reviewer, HarryPotterFanHermione, whose reviews always make my day!


	8. The First Day: Part II

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer_ \- I don't own the rights to _Harry Potter_ , from which this story borrows many elements. Said elements are owned by J.K. Rowling, who by extension, would own this story.

* * *

The First Day Part II

At lunch, the first-years were all talking over one another, eager to share stories and compare experiences from the day so far. Cari sat back and listened, content to eat her lunch of pizza and salad and hear what her classmates had gleaned from their classes. Before she knew it, the lunch hour was over and it was time for Cari to find her way to the next class on her schedule: Herbology. Her copy of the map of the school showed that Greenhouse One was situated in the grounds between the Arts and Physical Wings. There was a door leading out onto the grounds rather than into one of the Wings, and they used it to exit the cafeteria.

Neatly labeled, Greenhouse One was easy to find but there were no chairs of any kind inside. The expansive greenhouse was divided into clear sections. The one they stood in looked much like the land outside, except for the two long furrows cut into the rich, dark earth. The overturned soil, stark against the frosted white glass of the walls, looked ready to be planted. The class was made up of Physical and Academic students. As they stood waiting, Tessa walked over to one of the divider walls. Pressing her palm to the solid plastic, she mused, "I wonder what's over there…"

"Step away from the divider, please," a woman requested, voice quiet but firm as she strode through the door. She, like Professor Fleet, appeared to have Native American ancestors. Unlike the strength of Fleet's square-jawed face, this woman's high cheekbones, sharp chin, and narrow countenance gave her a delicate appearance, countered only by her wide, thin-lipped mouth. She looked expressive, to say the least, and Cari was somehow sure that the woman would never hide her true feelings. Her dark hair, accentuated by streaks of silver, was woven into a long braid.

While Cari had been studying the teacher, Tessa had moved away from the wall, blushing as she apologized. The woman waved the apology away. "No offense was meant and none was taken. I am Professor Tallet and this is Herbology I. Yes, that means plants. Yes, you will have to plant and take care of living things. Yes, you will be graded on the success of your plants."

Nervous murmuring was floating around the greenhouse and Professor Tallet was obviously fighting back a smile. "I don't want you to be too concerned. Even if you've never planted or cared for a garden before, you should be able to pass this class with ease. Herbology I is going to consist of regular plants that exist in the Muggle world. You will learn the basics of planting, digging weeds, aerating soil, watering by the proper amounts, replanting, et cetera, all rooted – if you'll forgive the pun – in the base of non-magical plants. If you pass Herbology I - which I expect you all will - we will move on to planting and caring for magical plants in upcoming years.

"Each section of this greenhouse represents a different climate, suited for growing the plants it contains. That is why I must ask that you not open the various partitions. I must be present to perform a stasis spell, keeping the atmosphere at the precise temperature and humidity it needs to be. Some of the projects being grown by the other classes are extremely sensitive to changes in their surroundings. Now, since non-magical plants need time in which to grow and have adverse reactions to Advanced Growing Fertilizers, we will take advantage of the time we have and plant the seeds today. I will warn you that we are going to use basic methods, but please do not become overconfident."

Tallet passed a seed to each student and directed them to stand by the right furrow in the earth. The left one was covered in a variety of little signs. Each student was given a plot of nearly half a foot of dirt in which to plant their seeds. "These seeds you are planting are peas. Place the seed two to four inches into the dirt, then tamp the soil down on top of it. We'll water these seeds every day for the next two weeks." There were groans and complaints in response to this and Tallet raised an eyebrow. "What, you had other plans? I assure you, it takes less than five minutes to walk here to the greenhouse, to your spot, and water your pea plant. I will also go ahead and warn you that I can tell if you skip a day. Weekdays are easy to remember since you'll be here anyway, but weekends will be your biggest threat. _Do not forget your plant_."

Once everyone's seed was situated to Professor Tallet's satisfaction, she handed them each a small wooden stake with white cardstock stapled to it. She distributed several black markers around the class as well. "Please write your first and last name on the card and – _gently_ – place it in the ground next to the spot you planted your seed. I repeat: do not stab your seed with the wooden spike. The card should go next to your plant, not on top of it. This marker will help you to remember which plant you are watering every day."

By the time their furrow was arranged like the one belonging to the other class, Herbology was almost over. Tallet spent the last few minutes going over basic gardening tips and advising the students on how much water they needed to give their plant every day before dismissing them.

The last class of Cari's day was Survival. It was in the Physical Wing, Building One, Classroom Three. It took until they had walked in and sat down for Cari to realize that the classroom they were standing in was ten feet above her bedroom. She grinned at Lydia, who had obviously come to the same conclusion. They both laughed even as Lydia stifled a theatrical yawn and leaned her chair back on its hind legs. "Whew, long day! What I wouldn't give to be… you know." She pointed straight down and Cari chuckled appreciatively.

Leaning forward from the table behind them, Shadow muttered, "Look at all the stuff on the shelves. Do you know what any of it is for?"

Cari began studying the objects Shadow had pointed out. Nothing looked even remotely familiar, except for a set of goggle-like glasses that looked like steampunk binoculars. She was fairly certain she could figure out what they were used for and was about to mention them to Shadow, Lydia, and Eric - who was sharing Shadow's table - when the goggles dissolved away, along with the other devices, the shelves, the walls, the chairs, desks, students' belongings…

In the end, the students all stood in the middle of a vast desert, wearing their uniform robes, but no backpacks or purses remained. Those who hadn't been quick enough to stand before their chairs disappeared found themselves dumped onto the cold sand. Yes, it was night, Cari realized with a start. The sky was dark, leaving stars to fill the velvety emptiness. There was a brisk chill in the air and she shivered, joining many classmates in drawing robes more tightly around herself. Some of the students were beginning to panic, finding that wands had been left behind with their books and supplies.

Just before the class erupted in absolute terror, Shadow spoke in a sharp voice. "Hey! Stop it. There's no reason to freak out."

Sensing his tone had only put temporary stop to the oncoming riot, Cari made sure her words came out soft and soothing. "I'm sure we'll find out what's going on in a minute or two. There's no way we could just be sent somewhere without realizing it. And even if someone did manage to shoot us all off to some desert, do you really think the school would leave us here long? Come on, guys. Just calm down." The group reacted slightly better to Cari's consolation, but she was left with them looking at her expectantly. Casting around for something useful, she asked, "Um, does anyone know how to make a fire?"

A pretty African-American girl laughed awkwardly, pushing back her dark hair. "I do, but without a wand, I can't just build one out of air. There are no materials in a desert."

Cari blushed, but her eye was soon caught by a blonde boy who was staring intently at the sky, turning in slow circles. She knew his face, and soon placed him as the boy who had been writing furiously at her table for the Entrance Exams. While she had been distracted, the class had started talking about the possibility of signaling someone for help. The crowd of students moved from her path as she walked through, focused on the boy. "Excuse me," she said politely when she had reached him. "What is your name?"

"Tobias," the boy said absently, still studying the sky. "I'm in the Academics Wing."

Furrowing her brow, Cari said, "I thought this class was between Physical and Politics students?"

"I had a scheduling conflict," Tobias said. He finally met her gaze with his hazel eyes. He was serious as he said, "I think I know where we are."

Behind Cari, the class grew silent and the boy continued on nervously. "Based on the time of day and the position of the stars, I believe we are somewhere in the Sahara Desert."

Eric gave a low whistle. "So much for signaling for help, then."

Lydia turned to him, confusion written across her features. "Why not?" Their classmates sneered at her ignorance even as they listened intently for an explanation.

Eric stared around the group incredulously. In a tone of _duh, everyone knows this_ , he said, "The Sahara is the largest desert in the world." When the students looked unimpressed, he said, "It stretches across northern Africa and takes up approximately the same amount of land as China or the United States." That got some attention and students broke into despairing complaints.

Leaning over, Cari asked Tobias, "If you've figured out that we're in the Sahara, is there any way you would be able to narrow it down further?"

With a decidedly cocky expression, Tobias said, "I already have. I am nearly one-hundred percent certain that we are in either southeast Libya or southwest Egypt."

Eric was listening intently. "Well, if we're supposed to find a way out of this, the best thing to do would be head northeast. The population density will increase the closer we get to the Nile and we'll eventually come across a way to communicate with someone who can help."

Tobias shook his head. "You're insane! The Egyptian desert, or the-"

"-Libyan desert, I know," Eric said along with him, wearing a cocky expression of his own.

"Well, then, you must also know that the Libyan desert in Egypt is roughly the same size as Texas. There's no way we can move a group of people this size across a distance that large!"

Cari cut in smoothly. "That's why it's so important that we start now. If we get moving, we can make it a fair distance before the sun rises. Besides, we probably need to be walking to stay warm with the temperature as low as it is here. Everyone is decently hydrated, but that will change if we don't find water soon. We need to move now while we still can."

"Very good!" a voice boomed, echoing across the sand. The desks and chairs reappeared along with the teacher's desk and blackboard, and the temperature rose back to a comfortable level. Large lanterns appeared at the edges of a classroom-sized space. A stocky man slowly faded into view as well. He had gray hair flowing down to merge with his gray-white beard. His skin was leathery, face crossed with heavy lines. His glasses were square and delicate, sitting rather oddly on his imposing nose. When she looked at him, the best description Cari could think of was _grizzled_.

"Well? Sit down and we can get started." His voice was deep and he spoke at a loud volume.

The girl who had said a fire was impossible half-raised her hand and spoke before he acknowledged her. "But, sir? Shouldn't we go back to the classroom first?"

The man gave a hearty laugh. "Kid, you were never out of the classroom! Sit!" Obediently, the class was seated, finding the tables they had started class at. "I'm Professor Kreer, but don't feel the need to call me 'Professor' all the time. 'Mr.' will do, and I wouldn't even ask for that if Fleet didn't make me. Anyway, welcome to Survival."

As Mr. Kreer spoke, he was walking around the 'classroom', tapping a nondescript baton absently on the palm of his empty hand. "You," he said suddenly, pointing the baton at the African-American girl from earlier. "What's your name?"

The girl blinked up at Mr. Kreer with large, honey-colored eyes. "Jael Delaney, sir."

"Jael Delaney. Nice to meet you, Miss Delaney. You say you know how to build a fire?" She nodded and he nodded with her. "Good. If you had looked around, however, you would have discovered a small pile of branches and other various flammable materials. Never assume an area lacks the things you need. It's always better to check and make sure. But I won't hold that against you."

"You," he pointed at Shadow this time. "Good job stopping the class before they could riot completely. Once a panic is started, there's little chance of recovering order. You are?"

"Shadow Hale, Mr. Kreer."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hale. You," he pointed to Eric, sitting right next to Shadow. "You know a fair amount about deserts and the geography of Egypt. Please give me your name and how you came to know so much."

"Eric Wilkerson. I like exploring, sir. I study the world as much as I can because one day, I want to see it all." It was more than Cari had ever heard the boy say. She was impressed by Eric's ambition and wouldn't mind hearing more, but Mr. Kreer simply nodded and turned around.

"You," he said as Cari studied the baton held inches from her nose. "Good job calming everyone down. You are?"

"Licaria Romana, sir."

"Ah, like the flowering tree? That's... different. That was impressive, following your friend's lead, but when you found out everyone's strengths and created a plan for getting everyone through the desert? That's when you truly set yourself forward as a leader. And you backed it up."

"And finally," he continued, strolling away from a slightly-shocked Cari. "We come to you. Your name?"

"Tobias Cooper, Mr. Kreer."

"Tobias. Really?" The boy nodded, a confused look on his face, and the teacher shrugged his broad shoulders. "All right, then. Well, Mr. Cooper, you seem to know a lot about a lot. How would you have gotten water if you had been required to walk until you found civilization?"

"Well, sir, I would have cut open a cactus. The flesh inside is rich in water." Tobias couldn't seem to keep the smarmy tone from his voice.

Mr. Kreer nodded toward a large cactus standing off to one side of the 'room'. "Go ahead, Mr. Cooper. Please show the class how to get liquids from that cactus."

Tobias stared at the cactus for a second before looking back at the teacher. "I can't, sir."

Mr. Kreer pulled a shocked face and said, mostly keeping the sarcasm from his voice, "You can't? Well, Tobias, by the end of this year, you will have learned." Despite her annoyance at the boy's constant cockiness, Cari couldn't help but feel sorry for Tobias as his face fell. The teacher seemed to notice as well, and his voice softened. "Hey. You did real good, kid. You're the only one who was even on the right track, using the position of the stars. I don't expect you to know everything on the first day."

He walked to the front of the area, turning to stare back at them. "There may be times in your life that you are stuck somewhere and don't have a way out. At these times, you may not have your wand. You may not have your cell phone. You may not have anyone with you. This class will teach you how to prepare for those situations."

As Mr. Kreer spoke, the desert scene faded away until they sat in the classroom once again, surrounded by the shelves bearing the same odd tools. He told them to sort through the boxes they had received for the class and know at least the names of everything in it by class time the next day. Then they were dismissed.

Cari left the classroom and turned the sharp corner into the stairwell, deciding that the time before dinner would be best spent getting a head start on homework. She lost herself for the next few hours in her studies. By the time Lydia came, asking if she was ready for dinner, Cari had completed most of the homework that was due on the next day.

The subject of the dinner conversation was, not surprisingly, everyone's first day. Mr. Kreer's class seemed to be a favorite topic. When Cari and Lydia joined the group, Tessa was mid-rant. "-I mean, seriously! What kind of introduction to a subject was that? Uh, how about we teach the students something before we try to test them on it? And we weren't the only ones! From what I've heard around Echowick, there wasn't a single class who handled that test to Kreer's satisfaction."

Chayton shrugged. "I don't know; he seemed kind of strange to me. Maybe the point was for us to fail. Isn't it possible that he just wanted to see how we handled an impossible situation?"

"I don't think that's it," Lydia said, filling her plate with roasted chicken. "We made it just fine. Yeah, he lectured a little bit, but he told some of us we did a good job."

Students who hadn't been in their class stared at Lydia as they expressed their disbelief. With a casual air, Lydia began eating her dinner. Shadow chimed in, "It's true. We figured it out, mostly due to… That guy! Hey, you want to sit with us?"

Cari followed Shadow's gaze down the table, finding that Tobias was sitting alone. The boy was looking at Shadow in shock, fork poised halfway to his mouth. With everyone staring at him, however, he lifted his plate slightly and scooted a few feet closer. Tessa was studying the boy with brows drawn. "Wait a second. I know you. Cooper something?"

Tobias actually cracked a smile and Cari felt her eyes involuntarily widen in shock. A real emotion from the boy? "Close. I'm Tobias Cooper and I'm in the Academics Wing. That's the same Wing as you, right?"

Tessa nodded, but narrowed her gaze. "So, Toby, why aren't you in class with the rest of us?"

Tobias winced. "It- it's Tobias. And after our Entrance Exams, I took a test to see if I could skip any classes. Of those I'm advanced enough to skip, Headmistress Fleet told me to choose one and I chose Charms. I take Charms II with the second-years, which made my schedule a little different than the rest of the first-years."

Nodding sagely, Tessa focused on the real issue at hand. "How is it that you are the reason the class didn't get yelled at?"

Tobias colored, the red tinge in his face at odds with his platinum blond hair. "I knew the stars." At Tessa's blank look, he sighed and explained, "From the position of the stars, and the time of day, it was easy to judge that we were in the eastern Sahara desert. From there, Eric and I figured which direction we should go and Licaria formed a traveling plan for the class."

Tessa shook her head, whether in admiration or exasperation, Cari didn't know. "So, if he didn't spend the class yelling at everyone, what did he do?"

Eric cut in. "Well, it took us a lot of the period to figure out where we were, but once we did, Mr. Kreer showed up and talked to all of us. He pointed out everyone who had helped the class start to figure out how to handle itself and told us what we had done right or wrong."

Tessa's green eyes slid questioningly to Tobias. "And what exactly did you do wrong, Toby?"

"It's Tobias. And I said we could get water from cacti, but didn't know how to actually do anything about it. Mr. Kreer wasn't happy about that, but he said I did well handling the rest of the situation."

Looking decidedly smug, Shadow leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his water. "See? Academics students aren't the only ones who can be smart."

Tessa crossed her arms and began ticking points on her fingers. "First, I never said you couldn't be smart, I just said that Academics students are the ones who are known for it. Second, Toby _is_ an Academics student. You're lucky he was on loan to your class, or you would have been in exactly the same place as the rest of us."

"Look, thanks for the compliments, but my name is Tobias, not Toby. What might your name be?" Cari looked at Tobias in amusement, even as she wondered how the boy had managed to correct Tessa about his name while still sounding polite.

Raising light brown eyebrows, Tessa said, "'Might my name be'? My name _might_ be Erwin the All-Knowing, but it's more likely to be Tessa Alston. And Toby? I'm just going to keep calling you Toby. Better get used to it." The girl turned her focus back to her mashed potatoes as the newly-nicknamed Toby stared at her with his mouth hanging open. When she paid him no further attention, he slowly went back to picking at the vegetables on his plate.

As the conversation went on, the table grew empty while more and more students drifted off to bed. Professor Brunn paused by their table on her way out. Resting fingertips lightly on the table, she leaned in and advised, "You might want to go back to your dorms soon. Curfew's coming up and will be here before you know it."

With that warning in mind, everyone said goodnight and headed off in their different directions.

* * *

Author's Note \- The more observant among you lovely readers might have noticed that this chapter - posted on a Thursday - deviates from my typical Monday updating schedule. Well, as necessary as it was, I really disliked splitting the first day into two parts. Also, the chapter for next week is disappointingly short, so this is my way of making it up to anyone who might be reading. That being said, thank you! Seeing the views on this story slowly climbing makes my day, especially since it's been my pet project for almost a year. Reviews are more than welcome, as usual, and thank you to HarryPotterFanHermione for the continued support! Looking forward to posting again next Monday. I hope everyone has a great day!


	9. Astronomy

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer_ \- I really, honest, and truly own no rights to the _Harry Potter_ books, movies, video games, board games, supplementary books, coloring books, merchandise, so on and so forth. Promise.

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Astronomy

Tuesday and Wednesday were relatively uneventful as the students began settling into their new home and routines. At dinner on Wednesday night, Professor Fleet stopped at the first-years' table while everyone was sitting around, alternating between chatting and eating. When the Headmistress had everyone's attention, she reminded them, "Please remember that your Astronomy class is at ten o'clock tonight and will last until midnight. The first class of the day tomorrow will still start at eight am. To ensure you have enough sleep, please consider going back to your rooms for a nap before class. Wing Leaders will meet you in the first building of your Wing at approximately nine-thirty to escort you to the Astronomy Tower. Please arrive in your appropriate location on time, if not a little early."

She went back to the head table. Cari, tired from the day anyway, decided to take Fleet's advice and rose from her spot after she finished eating. "Hey, where are you going?" Chayton asked.

Cari shrugged. "I'm kind of tired and the professor might be offended if I doze off in the middle of class. I'm going to catch some sleep before we have to leave."

Arching an eyebrow, Kimber said, "Well, those of us who don't need a daily nap like a three year-old will be here. Enjoy naptime."

Lydia stood. "You know what? I'll join you, Cari. I'm kind of sleepy, too. Guess it comes from using your _brain_ during the day. See you guys later."

As they gathered their things, Tessa said, "Yeah, I think I'm headed out, too."

Kimber's sarcastic voice rang out. "Tessa, you can't seriously be going to bed early like those two. I thought you were cool."

It was rare to hear Tessa sound anything but laid-back or amused, but her voice clearly showed her disdain. In a millisecond, Cari knew she never wanted that venomous tone directed at her. Coldly, Tessa corrected, "Uh, sorry Kimber, but being cool has nothing to do with choosing to get some sleep when you need it. It does, however, have a surprising amount to do with mocking people for no good reason. Toby, are you staying here or coming along?"

"I think I'll go back to my room. I had an early morning and a little extra sleep isn't going to hurt anything." Toby got up, shouldering his bag and smoothing his already-neat blond hair.

Cari couldn't help the small, vindicated smile from spreading across her face. Lydia gently nudged her with an elbow. "Isn't it nice to have friends?"

Nudging her roommate back, Cari let the smile unfurl completely. "You can say that again."

* * *

At nine-twenty that night, Cari and Lydia were awake and dressed in robes once more when a knock rang out. Lydia pulled the door open to find Shadow and Eric standing outside. "You guys ready?" Shadow asked, tugging on his robes.

Lydia leaned outside, peering around before asking offhandedly, "Where's Kimber?"

Eric shrugged. "I don't know. She stayed in the cafeteria when the rest of us went to bed. Maybe they let her stay there after curfew since we have class tonight?"

Exchanging looks, Cari and Lydia stepped into the hallway, calling back to Megan and Sarah that they were leaving. Shadow and Eric's roommates were in the hall, as well as the boys from the other Physical dorm. With Cari and Lydia there as well as two of their three dorm-mates, the small area seemed crowded. Strands of conversation crowded the air, tangling together in a cacophony of sounds. Taking advantage of the chaos, Shadow tapped Cari on the arm, motioning for her to join him in an semi-empty corner.

When they were alone as they could be in the crowded hall, Shadow studied Cari with sincerity in his eyes. "Hey, I owe you an apology." She gave him a confused stare as he continued. "When Kimber was rude to you earlier, I should have said something. I _wanted_ to say something! I don't know why I didn't say something…" He stared off for a second, apparently deep in thought. "I was shocked, you know? I couldn't imagine that someone would be so nasty over something so small."

Again, Cari felt the need to explain her background, and since this was a more appropriate time, defended Kimber. "Well, you should know that I'm not from a good family. In fact, my family is seen as… subpar, I guess. Kimber knows that and it affects the way she treats me." She tried not to feel overly exposed, revealing so much of herself to Shadow, but what if this changed the way he saw her?

"I know that," Shadow said simply. Cari gaped at him. "I'm a half-blood, Cari. My mom is a pureblood and knows a lot about who's who in the wizarding world. She told me all about your situation."

"Is that why you've been so nice to me? Because your mother told you to?" Cari asked with injured pride. "You felt sorry for me because of who my family is? Well, don't. I couldn't be happier to be from a family who puts love above everything else and I don't need your pity!"

Shadow laughed, and the sound was unexpected enough to put a stop to Cari's tirade. "I know that! And my mom didn't tell me to be nice to you. She said that you had been invited to Echowick, despite some of the pure-blood community not wanting you to be here. She told me that you probably wouldn't accept the invitation because you knew people would be mean to you. That's why I've been nice to you. You're brave; one of the bravest people I've ever met. You knew the kind of treatment you would get here, but you came anyway. You stood up to them, just like you stood up to me a minute ago, and just like you're going to stand up to Kimber one of these days. Don't give me that look. You're only going to deal with her attitude for so long before you get sick of it and say something to her about it if she doesn't change." His eyes grew serious as he looked down at her. "Someday, I want to be as brave as you are, Licaria Romana."

He seemed like he was about to say something else, but their Leader arrived. She was tall and curvy, with long hair dyed a dark reddish-purple. Her voice, when she spoke, was breathless, hurried. "Hey! I'm your Wing Leader, Stephanie. Let's get you guys to Astronomy as fast as possible. I have two essays to finish before tomorrow morning."

Before Shadow could turn back to her, Cari slipped over to where her roommates were standing. "Has anyone seen Kimber? I don't want her to miss class."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "One of Megan's second-year friends stopped by and told us that Kimber is asleep on one of the couches in the first-year student lounge. Megan went to wake her up and bring her down here with us."

As Sarah finished her explanation, Megan came down the stairs, quietly merging into the mass of students. Kimber was behind her, stumbling blearily down the steps as she rubbed her eyes. Catching Cari's gaze, she shot a glare and Lydia sighed irritably. Cari laughed at her roommate. "You're just ready for a fight, aren't you?"

Still glowering at the other girl, Lydia said, "Well, her attitude bothers me. What right does she have to be so horrible to you?"

Cari shrugged. "Hopefully, she'll calm down, but for now, we'll just have to leave it alone. It's only the third day of our first year. I really don't need an enemy for the next six years of my life, especially not one who can take ten steps and kill me in my sleep."

Lydia made a face. "I guess you're right. So, what were you and Shadow talking about?" She waggled her eyebrows and Cari laughed as they followed Stephanie up to the second floor. They walked along the exterior hallway of the main building until they were at the corner between the Academic and Political Wings, where they ran into another group coming from the Political Wing.

The Political Leader, a tall boy with black hair, smiled as he called, "Hey, Steph! You finished those essays yet?"

Stephanie scowled. "Shut up, Keith. You know procrastination is my fatal flaw."

Keith threw his head back and laughed. "I can take your students up to the Tower if you want to go work on them."

Brightening, Stephanie's face changed completely as she patted Keith's cheek lovingly. "Thanks, babe. I owe you one." Turning back to the Physical students, she said, "Guys, follow Keith, here. He's a good guy and will make sure you get where you're supposed to be. Have fun and learn a lot! I'll be back when your class is over."

She turned back to Keith, who kissed her forehead. Lydia softly sighed, "Forbidden love. So wonderful."

Cari looked at her roommate in askance. In explanation, Lydia whispered, "Romantic entanglements between students are highly discouraged, especially if they are in authority positions. The board of directors thinks it sets a bad example." Cari didn't know how to respond to that, so she was glad when Keith led the group up a spiral staircase tucked into the corner of the building. He deposited them at the top and retreated back down the stairs. A few minutes later, the other two Wings joined them on the small platform atop the main building.

When they had all gathered, the sound of a softly cleared throat brought their attention to the door of the building taking up a small section of the roof. Several students asked, "Professor Brunn?" The woman did look like Professor Brunn, but Cari was standing close enough to see that her face wasn't exactly right. She had a longer nose, a few more wrinkles, and a slightly larger mouth. Her hair was completely silver, no dark gray lowlights, and her eyes were a colorless light shade in the moonlight rather than Brunn's dark brown.

The woman smiled softly. "No, I am not your Potions professor, though I do get asked that quite often. I am your Astronomy teacher, Professor Ford. Professor Brunn is my younger sister. If you'll follow me inside?" She turned and opened the door she had been standing in front of. It swung open and golden light poured out. When Cari walked inside, she saw that the room had been built in the shape of a large circle. A huge number of windows lined the walls, each one with a telescope and a desk bearing a map, a compass and protractor, a pen, and several reference books.

Chayton let out a low whistle between his teeth. "There's a small fortune invested in this room, people."

Cari had to nod in agreement. Professor Ford turned and Cari noticed with a start that her eyes were a pale, delicate gold. The shade was light enough that the teacher's eyes were almost colorless, giving her an air of otherworldly uniqueness. Professor Ford spoke simply and gently, however, nothing like her loudly dramatic younger sister. "Students, if you will each find a desk, we may get started."

Moving quickly, Cari snagged a desk, ending up between Shadow and Lydia. The layout of the classroom forced the students to twist around backwards in their chairs to stare at Ford. The professor herself stood in the middle of the circular room, having to turn constantly so she could look at each student. She let out a slight laugh. "You'll all hurt your backs sitting like that, and I do so dislike having to read angry letters from your parents. You can turn your chairs around if you would prefer."

Everyone turned their chairs around, except for the few who straddled their seats. Ford spent about half an hour explaining how the class was set up and the rest of the time was spent coaching the students on finding a few different stars on the map and then through their telescopes. It was oddly peaceful, sitting in the classroom, staring up at the pinpoints of light in the dark sky. Professor Ford had a penchant for playing soft music, mainly classical, which added to the sense of tranquility. When Cari located the variety of stars listed by Professor Ford, she felt a sense of accomplishment she had yet to find in her other classes.

By the time Professor Ford dismissed the class for the evening, Cari was almost sorry to leave. At least, she would have been if she wasn't so tired. (She tried not to dwell on the fact that Kimber had fallen asleep at her desk. Gloating is bad for one's karma.) Stephanie was waiting on the platform, along with Keith and two other seventh-year students.

"Ready?" she asked with a bright smile. Without waiting for an answer, Stephanie started down the spiral staircase and around the building toward the Physical Wing. Cari, having been one of the first to leave the Astronomy classroom, felt the need to make conversation since she was walking directly next to the older girl.

"Did you get to work on your essays?" she questioned.

Stephanie looked at her, pleasant surprise written across her face. "Good memory. They're going okay, thanks for asking. I still have some work to do on one and final proofreading on the other, but they should both be done by the time I have those classes tomorrow. What was your name again?"

Though she couldn't shake hands while they were in motion, Cari's manners forced her to make eye contact with the older girl. "I'm Cari Romana."

She was growing used to the reaction people had when they heard her last name, but Stephanie didn't blink an eye. Instead, she nodded and said, "Cool. Nice to meet you. I'm your Wing Leader, Stephanie. Obviously."

An awkward silence threated to descend, so Cari blurted, "I like your earrings."

Stephanie looked taken aback for a moment before reaching up to tug on the small bell dangling from her earlobe. "Thanks, they were a gift from my grandmother. They're supposed to be bewitched to jingle when there's trouble. Speaking of, come find me if you have any or hear about someone getting ready to start some." That struck Cari as a strange thing to say and she leveled the older girl an odd look. Stephanie shrugged. "With your listening skills, you'll probably hear something long before it actually happens. Never hurts to have some people on the ground helping me out."

The group arrived at the Physical Wing and Stephanie led them down the stair again, depositing the group in front of the doors to their dorms. "Okay, guys. Thanks for behaving, hope you learned a lot, get some sleep. Good night." All this was said in one breath and the small area remained silent until the sound of keys rang out as students unlocked their doors. Giving a small wave, Cari silently said farewell to her Wing Leader, who acknowledged the sentiment with a nod. Cari closed the door and glanced through the peephole. As soon as all the doors were closed, Stephanie turned and walked down the lower hallway toward the seventh-year dorms.

Lydia, already changed back into her pajamas, stood at the door of their room, giving Cari an odd look. "Hey. Are you going back to sleep or not?"

Shaking herself, Cari sent her roommate a small smile. "Yeah, I am. Sorry, I guess I just got lost for a second there."

Smiling back, Lydia shook her head slowly. "Yeah, that nap earlier clearly did a ton of good," she muttered as she walked back into the room and climbed into her bed. After changing into her night clothes, Cari tucked herself beneath the covers and fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

Author's Note \- Garr, me hearties! Today (September 19th) be Talk Like A Pirate Day! Thank ye fer readin', an' I hope ye enjoyed this chunk o' story. Leave yer complaints or compliments in tha reviews if ye please. May tahday be filled wit' bright skies, fair winds, an' smooth seas for all o' ye!


	10. The First Few Weeks

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer_ \- I own zero rights to _Harry Potter_ , which is owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.

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The First Few Weeks

After that first Astronomy class, the weeks began to fly by. Classes had hit a solid routine of homework, reading, studies, and practical applications. Even weekends had a decent level of structure between trips to the greenhouse to water the pea plants and exploring the buildings and grounds of Echowick. By the end of Cari's first weekend, she had been in the first year's student lounge for each Wing, found several different ways to get to the library, and met nearly every member of the staff. Her father had come by on that Sunday afternoon with the gift of a soda. They had talked for nearly two hours in a sitting area of the library. Cari hadn't realized how homesick she had been feeling until she saw her father, but after the conversation with Daniel, she was more at ease.

One of the more difficult parts of life at Echowick was the bullying. After that first week, people had figured out who she was and the insults had started to fly. The unkind words had quickly escalated and Cari found herself shoulder-checked, tripped, mocked, laughed at, and worse. Some clever soul had started the trend of spitting as she walked by. Not on her, thankfully, but onto the ground she had just walked over. Harmless, but it was irritating and insulting. Cari tried to convince herself that it was the germs that bothered her more than the action itself.

The same boy who had started the spitting effort also made sure the taunting never slowed. Pittrellean Geikas was his name, one Cari learned to intensely dislike. Called Pitt by nearly everyone, the boy was striking in appearance. He had a perfect peaches and cream complexion, accentuating his hair and eyes, both a distinct reddish-brown. He was extraordinarily popular with Echowick students from every Wing, regardless of age. He himself was a second-year student in the Politics Wing, and was well known for his high-ranking family.

Pitt was a Pure-blood. No one of pure blood particularly liked Cari, of course, but none were quite so vengeful as he was. Most days, he would just start chants of, "Death to the Mongrel scum," in the halls as she passed, but lately, he had been expanding his repertoire. His new favorite thing was to stand where he knew Cari would pass, choosing a spot just so she couldn't see him, which most times led to her running headlong into him. He would then mock her for her clumsy carelessness, complaining loudly that his clothes were 'infected' and had to be burned.

One particular day, Cari was rushing to Professor Brunn's class, having stayed after to ask Professor Perez a clarifying question about his lesson on transfiguring buttons. She was flying down the stars when she saw – a split second too late – a textbook placed neatly on the center of a step. Cari's foot hit the slippery cover and lost her balance, tumbling down the steps. It felt as though every inch of her skin made contact with a stone corner or two on the way down. When Cari finally collapsed at the bottom of the flight of stairs, she allowed herself to lie on the floor for a moment in recovery. Dimly, she heard the offending textbook skitter down the stairs, colliding lightly with her back.

A steady whistling came from somewhere beyond Cari's range of vision – admittedly limited at the moment - but it cut off, followed by a voice moaning, "Great, now I've got Mongrel on my textbook. Only one solution…" There was a small _whoosh_ sound and Cari felt an odd rush of heat behind her. All the aches and pains disappeared in a rush of adrenaline as she scrambled away from the small fire at her back.

At the end of her wild motion, she stood panting, facing the blaze that had very nearly lit the back of her robes. She turned, looking into Pitt's reddish gaze. All the calm acceptance, all of Cari's hard-won control melted away when she saw the look on his face. He didn't look angry or happy or even triumphant. The fact that he had almost just lit her on fire had absolutely no effect on him. Cari's confusion and frustration toward the entire wizarding world bubbled to the surface, leading her to shout, "What is _wrong_ with you? Do you really care that little about another human being?"

With the same dispassionate expression, Pitt simply said, "I don't consider you entirely human."

Cari gaped at that. "Are you- You're serious! I don't know how your parents managed to raise a little serial killer, but if you ever do something like that again-"

Casually, Pitt stepped forward and backhanded her face. "Do not threaten me, Mongrel. If you know what's healthy, you'll do the smart thing and keep a respectful distance."

He turned and sauntered away, picking up the half-forgotten melody he had been whistling earlier. He left behind his still-flaming textbook and Cari clutching at the painful spot on her face. There were no fire extinguishers around, but fortunately, Cari had learned the spell to produce a small stream of water last week in a particularly intense study session. "Aguamenti," she whispered, aiming the tip of her wand at the burning book. When the flames were gone and the book was thoroughly doused, she scooped up the remains, depositing them in a nearby trash can. After wiping her sooty hands on her black robes, she headed off to Potions, now hopelessly late.

Just before Cari entered the Potions classroom, she unwove her braid, allowing the hair to fall across the side of her face. She walked straight to her desk, face lowered and sat next to Lydia, working diligently over her small cauldron. "What did I miss?" Cari murmured.

"Not much, just the introduction of the potion, explanation of what it is, and method for brewing it. What happened? Where were you?" Lydia was studiously dicing a small orange root as she continued. "If you're going to skip class, the least you could do is- Oh, Cari. What happened to your face?"

Before Cari could stop herself, her hand flew to the right side of her face. It felt warm and she was fairly certain it was starting to swell. "Nothing," she said reflexively. "I tripped and fell down the stairs. Guess I was in too much of a hurry to get here."

Lydia ducked her face to peer up into Cari's. She hissed out a breath and Cari turned her head so the injury was further away from her roommate's intense gaze. On the other side, a gentle hand pulled her hair away from her face.

Shadow's gaze was dark as Cari stammered out her falling excuse, which wasn't technically a lie; it just wasn't how her face had gotten hurt. Shadow cut her off. "You fell down the stairs and that's how you got the perfect outline of a handprint on your face? Don't waste my time, Cari. Who did this?"

Cari clenched her jaw and pulled her hair from Shadow's grasp. He released it immediately, but walked up to Professor Brunn, who was also working at her cauldron. "Professor Brunn, I think Cari needs to go to the Hospital Building."

Brunn's attention snapped to Shadow instantly, then found Cari at her spot and began studying her as she walked over. "Miss Romana, what seems to be the problem?"

Glaring at Shadow, Cari said, "Nothing, Professor. I just tripped on the way here and everyone's freaking out. I really don't need to go to the Hospital Building."

Rather than looking irritated, which was what Cari had been afraid of, Professor Brunn nodded understandingly. "Well, if you don't take care of that soon, it's going to be quite the bruise. You must have hit quite hard right along here." Brunn traced lightly over Cari's cheekbone and the corner of her eye and the first-year couldn't quite hold back a wince. "That's what I thought. If you decide you want to take care of it, I can either send you to the Hospital Building or I have a potion up here that could fix you right up. Just let me know."

Brunn turned and strode back up her desk and the potion she was working on. As much as Cari didn't want to prove Shadow and Lydia right by taking the potion, she really didn't want to walk around with Pitt's handprint on her face. Sighing, she rose from her chair and approached Professor Brunn, already deep in concentration. Fortunately, she noticed Cari right away and eyed the girl expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Professor Brunn. I suppose I would like to take care of my face now. What kind of potion do you have for it?"

Professor Brunn smiled slightly. "It's a standard healing potion. They work well for minor injuries, inflammation, non-lethal injuries. If it makes you feel better, I brew and decant all the potions used in the Hospital. If you chose to go there, the doctor would give you the same potion. The only difference is that the potion would be administered by a doctor rather than a professor. Is that what you would rather do?"

Realizing that the professor felt her capabilities had been called into question, Cari shook her head fervently. "No thank you. I trust you, Professor, and if it's all the same to you, I would rather take the potion here."

She was rewarded with a bright smile from Professor Brunn, who then beckoned her back to the small office attached to the Potions classroom. Brunn pulled out a small brown glass vial, measuring four drops into a tablespoon. She handed the spoon to Cari, along with a bottle of water. With a sympathetic grimace, the professor explained, "It isn't the best tasting potion in the world. You may need the water to wash the medicine's taste away. On the positive side, the swelling should go down in less than an hour."

The taste was far worse than Brunn had made it seem with her casual warning. Cari gagged twice before she was able to keep the potion down, even after downing half the bottle of water. When she had fully recovered, Cari returned to her seat, already feeling the heat receding from her face. While she had understated the horrific taste of the potion, Professor Brunn had been entirely accurate about the timing aspect. Due to her tardiness, Cari was already in Magical Heritage by the time the healing process was complete, but her relief at the mark being gone completely overshadowed any lingering embarrassment.

When the class period ended, Professor Fleet called for her to stay for just a moment. She nervously approached the front desk as the woman said, "Miss Romana, I try to respect the privacy of my students. However, I cannot ignore the fact that you had a facial injury when you walked into my classroom today. While I will not actively pry into your life, I feel the need to remind you that bullying is not tolerated at Echowick. If there is anything you need to report, please know that any of the staff members are always willing to listen and take action."

Cari studied the Headmistress. The ugly, twisting anger in her stomach urged her to tell Fleet what had happened and who had been the cause. And yet, reporting a bully was rarely a practical option. Everyone knew that it only served to make the bullying worse. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "Thank you for the reminder, Professor Fleet. I was just running a little late today and fell down the stairs."

"The stairs," Professor Fleet repeated tonelessly. "That is the story you're going with?"

Doing her best to look innocently bewildered, Cari blinked at the woman. "I'm sorry; I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. I just fell down the stairs."

Professor Fleet stared at her, searching for any hint of a lie. She sighed, musing softly, "I must remind the groundskeepers to trim our stair-hands. They're getting out of control." Cari smiled at the professor's joke, but made no other response. "All right. You may go to your next class now. Will you make it on time, or would you like me to write a pass?"

Assuring the professor that she could get to Charms on time, Cari quickly made her way to the other classroom. Despite her promises to Fleet, Cari was barely at her seat when the bell rang. Garbin made a comment about those who flaunt the rules and skirt the edge of tardiness. With intense concentration on keeping a blank face, Cari made it through the Charms class. When Professor Garbin released the class uncharacteristically early, she made her excuses to her friends and made her way back to her dorm.

Cari let herself into the room, closing the door behind her before lying on her bed. She set an alarm on her phone to go off twenty minutes before her next class. To further help herself unwind, Cari turned on some music and closed her eyes… She had expected to fall asleep, but all she could do was replay the events of the day over and over again in her mind.

Pitt was unpleasant, but Cari couldn't bring herself to report him yet. She would have to be more on her guard as the school year went on, but otherwise, she was out of options. She was touched by the concern of her friends and the help she had gotten from her teachers, but it seemed like there was something new to worry about every day at Echowick… Cari took a deep breath, letting the air out slowly as her heartbeat slowed. She just had to remember to take every day as its own step. She had resources, friends, and teachers she could count on. _Breathe, Cari. There are no crises going on, nothing to be so stressed about._ With that, she slipped into a light, fitful sleep for a few minutes before the alarm went off.

Herbology passed quickly, as the class was focusing on repotting their pea plants. Professor Tallet informed them, "Since these plants are more mature, they no longer need to be watered every day." Several of the students cheered, but Tallet continued, "Now, you'll only have to water them every other day." Groans rang out and Tallet barely suppressed a gleeful smile. The professor was odd, but Cari really liked the woman.

To everyone's surprise, Cari had discovered she had a hidden talent where Survival was concerned. It had become her favorite class and she looked forward to the little escape at the end of every day. With a feeling of homecoming, Cari walked into the room, settling her bag at her usual table. Jael walked up soon after. Over the first few weeks of school, Cari and Jael had struck up a friendship of sorts, perhaps a little more competitive than most of Cari's friendships, but still gratifying.

Binding her long, black hair into a braid – Mr. Kreer had taught them through many demonstrations that free-flowing hair could be a great detriment in a survival situation – Jael rested lightly on Cari's table. Cari greeted her friend, but noted that the other girl was wearing a fierce scowl. "What's this I hear about you getting in a fight this morning?"

Cari rolled her eyes. "What, did someone take out a billboard? No, I didn't get in a fight. I fell down the stairs."

"Yeah, stairs known locally as Pitt Geikas," Jael said, smiling tightly. "Give me a few days to put the materials together and I'll poison him for you."

That surprised a laugh out of Cari, who shook her head appreciatively. "Are you kidding? With my luck, he would trace it back to me and I would get kicked out of Echowick. Thanks for the offer, though."

Jael punched her in the shoulder playfully. "Well, you know… have to stand up for fellow Survivalists and all of that. We might eventually work on the same team someday." They looked at each other for a moment before they both shook their heads and laughed, saying together. "Nah."

Cari shrugged. "If we were on the same team, we would be completely bored by the lack of real competition."

As one, they turned to greet the professor who had been trying to sneak up on them for the past three minutes. "Hey, Mr. Kreer." "How are you today, sir?"

Kreer straightened, a look of disappointment crossing his face. Still, they could sense he wasn't totally serious as he wagged a finger at the pair. "One day soon, I will catch you two when you aren't paying attention."

It had become a competition of sorts in the Survival classroom: Mr. Kreer had managed to surprise almost every one of the students so far, whether by jumping out from behind the door, scurrying out on hands and knees from behind his desk, or – on one particularly entertaining occasion – dropping down from the ceiling onto a student's desk when he was distracted. The only ones he had yet to scare were Jael and Cari, and they worked hard to keep it that way.

Jael laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, sir."

Kreer's beard twitched, but he tried to keep his smile under wraps. "You haven't yet. But there'll be plenty of chance soon."

"What do you mean?" "What's going to happen?" Cari and Jael echoed each other.

Shaking his head, Kreer said, "No, I have to tell the whole class. You two aren't special."

Cari and Jael exchanged amused glances. They were Kreer's favorite students and everyone knew it. At first, the gruff professor had been unable to come to terms with the fact that his two best students were female. However, as classes went on, he began to see the promise in them and started to teach them everything that he could. Now, he seemed to view them as grandchildren, amusing but showing potential.

However much they had grown in Kreer's estimation, he still turned and began his usual pacing around the periphery of the classroom. They would just have to wait. Fortunately, Kreer was at least as impatient as they were. "Come on, sit down! We have a lot to cover!"

The class was taken aback. Kreer spoke, described, informed, and even lectured, but he never shouted. It wasn't until most of the students had been seated that they realized he wasn't angry: he was excited. Eyes sparkling, he walked back and forth across the front of the classroom, occasionally leaning forward to tap on a desk, or use his arms to really emphasize a point.

"Students, I told you at the beginning of the year that we would be doing projects. The time for our first one has arrived." There were groans and Mr. Kreer narrowed his eyes at the offending students. "This is going to be just like a project for any other class – well, kind of. You're not writing an essay on a book or building a paper tornado."

Lydia leaned over, whispering to Cari even as her voice shook with suppressed laughter. "What does he think we _do_ in other classes?"

Cari shook her head in amusement, but paid rapt attention as Kreer continued. "This is a class on survival; you're going to survive." Murmurs filled the room and the professor waved his arms to recapture their attention. "You won't be in any real danger! Merlin. The class will be divided into two teams and you will be dropped off in the woods nearby. You'll be given basic supplies, a map, and a compass. You'll find your way to the front of Building 3. The first team there wins."

A girl raised her hand. "Who chooses the teams?"

Kreer pointed at her. "Great question. You get to choose the team you're on." Cari immediately looked over at Jael, widening her eyes and contorting her face in a crazy expression. Despite what she had said earlier, it would be great to be on a team with her friend. Jael apparently agreed, mimicking the face with the addition of an insane grin, but Kreer stopped them. "Except Cari and Jael. You both will lead a team."

The professor had both girls stand at the front of the room. "Everyone who wants to be on Jael's team, stand on the right side of the classroom. Everyone who wants to be on Cari's team, stand on the left side of the classroom. I want you to actually think about this before you choose. Which of these girls, remembering everything you know about them, do you think will make it back to Building 3 first?"

One of the boys spoke up, "What do we get if we're on the winning team?"

With a self-satisfied smile, Kreer said, "The pride that comes from a job well-done, of course."

Looking unimpressed, the boy asked, "What happens if we lose?"

"… You lose the chance to take pride in a job well-done. Anyway, pick your team!"

Cari had a moment of intense, 'what if no one picks me' anxiety, but it was eased when Shadow and Lydia nearly sprinted to her side. They were followed by Toby and a few others. Kimber was firmly on Jael's team, along with Jael's roommate, Willa. When the class had finished dividing up, the teams were nearly even. Mr. Kreer made a few slight adjustments and stood back, eying the groups critically.

"Okay, looks good to me. Remember which team you're on! It'll be about a week before we can actually go out for this project. Use that time wisely! Study your book, learn to use your compass, find resources focusing on plants and wildlife in this part of the country!"

Still floating on the high from being given a leadership position and actually having people who wanted to be on her team, the rest of the class period flew by for Cari.

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Author's Note \- Sorry this chapter is posted a little on the late side, but I'm sure it's still Monday somewhere... Anyway, introductions for a few major characters and plot lines! Are you guys excited? I am! If you're reading this story, please feel free to send some feedback in a review. I'm not trying to blackmail you or anything, so I'm not going to threaten withholding chapters, but I would truly love to hear anything you have to say. As usual, thanks for reading!


	11. Surviving

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I don't own _Harry Potter_. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros (and probably Universal, but I've never looked it up to be completely sure). Enjoy anyway!

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Surviving

Impatiently, Cari brushed a leaf away from her face, inadvertently leaving a smear of dirt across her cheek. "Guys, were you not listening when Kreer told us we could pack a bag?"

One girl, Holly, shrugged carelessly. "I didn't want anything weighing me down."

Cari bit the inside of her lip and counted to five. "Fine. I'll share my bug spray with you and then we need to get moving." In a smooth motion, she pulled her backpack from her shoulder, located the bug spray, and brought it out of the bag. Still not happy with her classmate, she didn't give the warning she should have and abruptly began to spray the exposed skin of the other girl's arms. Holly coughed violently as Cari went on, "Jael is really good. I know Mr. Kreer said we don't get anything if we win, but you never know. Maybe there's extra credit in it or something."

She capped the spray, and put it back in her bag before throwing it over her shoulder again. "If no one needs anything else?" She stared at her classmates with a raised eyebrow before collecting her compass and copy of the map from Lydia, standing nearby with a stunned expression on her face. Cari checked their progress and direction one more time before walking off in the right direction. In her wake, Lydia made eye contact with Shadow before flicking her gaze toward Cari several times. Shadow nodded and lengthened his stride to catch up with her retreating form.

"Hey," Shadow greeted casually, striding beside Cari.

"Hey," she said absently in return. She was fully occupied between tracing over the map with a forefinger and studying the surrounding areas for landmarks. The late September sun was golden in its afternoon glory, highlighting the landscape with thick beams. The leaves, beginning to turn colors, tried to redirect her attention, but Cari was vigilant. When Shadow didn't continue the conversation and simply stared at her in silence, Cari sighed and lowered the map slightly. "Something you needed?"

Shadow gave her his best blank expression. "Not particularly. Just wondering if there's a reason you're so intense about all of this. I don't think Kreer's going to give extra points if we make it back first, and even if he did, you don't need them."

"Shadow, I just need to do this. Everyone at this school thinks I'm a joke, a freak. I have to prove I'm worthy to be here, even if it kills me."

"Don't," Shadow chided, locking his fingers around the wrist of the hand holding the map. "No one thinks you're a joke or a freak. And since when do you care what anyone thinks?" His blue gaze narrowed in sudden realization. "Is this about Pitt?"

"No," Cari denied flatly. "This is just the one class I'm good at and I was trusted with a position of leadership. I don't want to let anyone down."

"Then lead," Shadow said. Cari felt a frustrated expression cross her face and opened her mouth to give a scathing reply when he told her, "Any idiot could rush us through the forest. It is a sign of true leadership to convince everyone that winning is in our best interests and something we need to strive for as a team. Right now, you're doing the first, not the second. You're the one letting us down."

He abruptly released her arm and walked back to where the others walked more slowly behind. Cari stood rubbing at her wrist. She hadn't been this stressed about leading the group until she had heard a couple of students in the hall talking about how her group would lose.

 _"That's why I went with Jael's team," one laughed. "No group led by a weak-magic Mongrel is going to even cross the finish line, let alone win."_

 _"Well, you could have passed along the information! I chose Cari's group because Shadow is hot, but he's not worth dying in the woods over."_ The second girl had seemed genuinely upset to be 'stuck' in Cari's group, especially since Mr. Kreer wouldn't let her switch.

It didn't help that Holly was the one 'stuck' on her team, and yet seemed to be trying to keep them from actually beating the other group. Letting out a deep sigh of frustration, Cari admitted to herself that Shadow was right. As non-bossily professional as possible, she called her team together for a meeting. When they had gathered, she lifted her sunglasses so that everyone could clearly see her expression, something her mother had talked about doing when one wanted to display sincerity.

"It has been brought to my attention that I've been a little less than patient with you all today. I'm sorry. I got distracted by trying to win, but that's not what this is about. We're trying to prove that we can survive in the wilderness and read a map with a compass. It isn't a race, not really." The group looked somewhat convinced, but some of Cari's classmates still wore hard expressions. She swallowed and made the last gesture she could. "If you aren't comfortable with my leadership, you can choose someone else. I'll explain what happened to Kreer, if he has a problem."

That changed the skeptical expressions to ones of shock as everyone looked around the circle. Cari braced herself to be ousted, but Holly shook her head. "No one wants you replaced. You're the best one of us here in class and you're our only hope for beating Jael's team." She shot Cari an apologetic grin. "Sorry I was being such a pain earlier, but I have a date tomorrow night and I didn't want to show up covered in mosquito bites."

Cari returned the smile and nodded before looking at the rest of her team. "Does anyone need anything else before we keep going?"

One of the boys, Timothy, gave a small wave. "Uh, can we see the map? We never got a chance to, and learning how to read it was kind of the point of this project."

Blushing, Cari held the map out, but rather than take it away, everyone gathered around her. "How do you know where we are?" "Yeah, and how do you figure out where to go from here?"

It took a few minutes to explain what she knew about map reading, but Cari described where they were based on a few landmarks, which she pointed out. She then showed them the small red circle drawn around one of the outbuildings on the Echowick grounds where they were supposed to meet.

"What are we standing around for?" Timothy said, enthusiastically. "We're not that far away!"

The group agreed and started off in the direction of the building they had seen on the map. Cari watched them go, a small smile playing on her face. Shadow lingered for a moment behind the rest of the crowd, waiting to walk beside her. "Nicely done, Madam Leader," he congratulated, sketching a shallow bow.

Still touched by the unexpected show of support from her classmates, Cari found it difficult to switch into a joking mood, but made sure her voice was playful when she said, "Why, thank you, my loyal subject." She studied him, turning serious. "Thank you, Shadow. You kept me from getting too crazy with all of this. Winning probably wouldn't have been worth it if everyone hated me because of my power trip."

He gave her a half-hug. "Don't mention it. We better catch up if you're going to keep being our fearless leader."

Cari laughed and they continued on down the slight path, winding beneath the colorful trees.

When the group finally emerged from the woods onto the neatly-groomed Echowick lawn, they were cautious. However, they circled around to the front of the outbuilding and still didn't see the other team. Mr. Kreer, leaning casually in the shade of the building, caught sight of them and clicked his stopwatch, making a notation on his clipboard.

He smiled at the group as he said, "Congratulations, Team Romana. You're the first group here."

Cari's team went wild, thumping each other on the backs and exclaiming their victory. When they had quieted, he remarked, "Yes, yes, you did very well. But did you learn anything? Going in there, I doubt that even half of you knew how to read a map."

Timothy moved forward, honor apparently offended. "I can read a map just fine!" He glanced at Cari and smiled, abashed. "At least, now that Romana explained it."

Holly nodded enthusiastically. "She's really good at explaining things, Mr. Kreer." The teacher stared at her drolly and she looked at her feet, stammering out, "Not that you aren't, sir. There's just something different about being out there and having someone pointing out that the stuff you see around you is on the map. I just really understood it."

Mr. Kreer nodded, wearing an amused half-smile. "Well, if you all learned how to use a map, we'll consider this project a success. And as long as Miss Romana doesn't decide she wants my job, this should be a case for more of these projects in the future."

The class excitedly discussed this as Cari sidled her way up to the teacher. "Mr. Kreer, has there been any news from Jael's group so far?"

Kreer shook his head. "Nothing yet." Cari worriedly furrowed her brows and the teacher awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Romana. I haven't heard anything over the radio, and I know for a fact that they're well within range." Mr. Kreer glanced at his watch then, frowning slightly as he did so. "But, now that you mention it, we're a little close to the time limit the Headmistress assigned. We'll give it ten more minutes. If we haven't heard anything from them by then, we'll go looking."

Cari nodded nervously and stood by Lydia. Cari leaned in slightly, saying in a low tone, "I really am sorry for the way I acted earlier. Sorry if I offended you."

Lydia regarded her balefully for a moment, but the tension broke as she sighed. "I guess I'm a little overly sensitive about this class. You and I aren't just roommates; we're friends. I'm not good at all the outdoors-y stuff and you hang out a lot more with Jael than with me."

She looked depressed and Cari bumped her friend's shoulder with her own. "Hey, do I eat every meal with Jael? Do I sleep in a room with Jael? I don't think so!"

A slight smile appeared on Lydia's face, growing to a full-fledged grin when Cari nudged her shoulder again. "Okay, okay. I just got a little jealous." She shot Cari a sidelong glance. "You know, there is a way you could make it up to me…" Cari shook her head in amusement and, encouraged, Lydia went on. "You know Halloween is coming up soon… ish. Well, it's on a Tuesday this year, so we're supposed to do all of our celebrating on the weekend before." She took a deep breath as she blurted out, "I got permission from Fleet to have our own special first-year Halloween celebration."

Mentally sorting through all the words her friend had just said, Cari nodded slowly. "A Halloween party sounds pretty fun. Wait, what does this have to do with Jael?"

Lydia huffed, as though Cari should have been able to follow her thought process. "I want you to invite her. If all three of us are friends, I won't be jealous. Besides, I don't know very many people. If I'm the one who invites people, it would be you and me." She stopped, a considering look on her face. "Maybe Sarah and Megan, too. If there was nothing else going on."

Cari raised both eyebrows. "Lydia, I'm the Mongrel. No one's going to come to a party I invite them to. They might not even come to a party I'm attending. Your luck might honestly be better if I don't come at all."

"No, you have to come! Not only because you're my roommate-slash-friend, but because, if you're there, that means Shadow will come, and _that_ means Eric and Chayton will both be there, too! If those three are at a party, we can count on pretty much all of the female first-years." She folded her hands beneath her chin and blinked wide eyes at Cari. "Please, Cari, I'm begging you. I need you to help make my party a success!"

Partially from curiosity and partially to stall, Cari asked, "What kind of party is it? Just food, music, and decorations? The usual stuff?"

Pulling an offended face, Lydia sniffed, "Please. So unoriginal. I have a few ideas, but my favorite so far is to have everyone bring their favorite movie and dress up as one of the characters from it. We'll let people vote for their favorite, whether because they like the character or because the costume is good, it doesn't matter. Whoever has the most votes gets to have their movie shown." Cari blinked, considering this. "Oh! I forgot to tell you that it's going to be outside," Lydia added. "We'll project the winning movie on the wall of the main building."

"Won't it be cold?" It was the only question Cari could think of, but Lydia had obviously already considered this.

"Of course! But I've already asked Professor Garbin to cast a warming charm on the area and Professor Perez already agreed to transfigure up a bunch of blankets. Besides, that's part of the fun!" she said brightly, eying Cari. "You get to sit next to that special someone, snuggling up to them and keeping each other warm."

Cari couldn't help but laugh at her roommate's wildly waggling eyebrows. "You have a boyfriend you didn't tell me about, Lydia?"

The other girl pouted. "No. But I do have my eye on a few options…"

"Students!" Mr. Kreer called from the outbuilding, gesturing them over towards himself. "We are now outside of the time limit for the other group to have returned. I would like to search for them, but I won't force any of you to come along. If anyone would rather return to their dorms, you are dismissed." No one moved. Trying to hide the pleased expression on his face, Kreer nodded. "All right, so we have quite the search party. We know their general direction, so we'll have each of you-"

He cut off, catching sight of the first members of Jael's team straggling through the tree line. He rushed forward. "Is everything okay? Where were you?"

Seeming very out of breath, the girl gestured over her shoulder. "Burkes got hurt. We had to stop so Jael could patch her up."

Looking behind the girl, everyone could see the rest of Jael's team approaching on a different trail than the one Cari's team had come in on. At the back of the group, Jael and Kimber supported a girl limping heavily. Kreer jogged to the three and immediately knelt down to examine Jackie Burkes' leg. Cari could see that the girl's jeans had been neatly cut away and there was a bandage wrapping around the wide section of her calf, holding a pack of gauze on the outside of the muscle.

Gently, Mr. Kreer lifted up the gauze and Cari winced in sympathy. Jackie's leg had been torn open. As soon as the professor had moved the gauze, the wound started to bleed again and, looking down, Jackie went pale, beginning to sway dizzily. Kreer lifted her off her feet and strode off. In a sharp voice, he called to the students, "I'll escort Miss Burke to the Hospital Building. Miss Delaney, Miss Romana, if you will please follow me?" He marched off, Cari and Jael half-jogging to keep up with his impressive stride.

Fortunately, the Hospital Building was within view, located between the Politics and Academics Wings. Mr. Kreer knew exactly where he was going, leading them straight to the front door, which Jael ran ahead to open for him. He nodded to her while Cari marveled at Jackie's bravery. The girl hadn't made a single sound, despite the discomfort Cari knew she must have been feeling.

A man sped out of an office by the door, black nonslip shoes completely silent on the polished floor. He wore a simple pair of aqua-colored scrubs, complete with a stethoscope slung around his neck. There was a sleek black watch on his left wrist and his shirt had 'Combes' embroidered onto the breast pocket.

"What happened?" he demanded, hastening to Mr. Kreer, who held Jackie as gently as possible.

The normally-gruff professor lifted her slightly as he asked, "Where can I set her down? She's in a lot of pain, Combes."

"Here, here," Combes said, leading them over to one of the beds lining the wall. Kreer set Jackie smoothly on the bed, taking special care not to jostle her injured leg. Combes peeled back the gauze. The injury still hadn't finished bleeding, and all of the blood trapped by the bandage began to seep down Jackie's leg. Catching sight of it, Jackie went completely white and collapsed backward onto the pillow at the head of the bed.

Combes moved quickly, bringing a cold cloth to spread across her forehead. As he did so, he was studying Cari and Jael. "What happened?" he asked again.

His eyes were a light blue-green, brought out by the scrubs he was wearing, but contrasting oddly with his dark olive skin and black hair. A little dumbstruck, Cari could only look over to Jael for an answer. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, we were doing our project for Survival and got off the trail for a little while. There was a fallen tree in our way, and I remembered that you're supposed to step on top of them instead of over them since snakes like to lie next to the trunk." Kreer nodded in confirmation and Jael went on. "I told everyone to step on top of the trunk and we were okay until Jackie tried to step down. Her foot caught against a branch and she fell. On the way down, her leg got caught on the stump of another tree. The stump was kind of sharp…"

"So I see," Combes said, gesturing at Jackie's leg.

Jael's cheeks colored slightly. "She didn't say anything was wrong right away. I noticed her limping a little while later and saw the blood on her pant leg, but her leg was too swollen to just pull the jeans up, so I cut it off right above the cut and we put pressure on it until the bleeding stopped, then I wrapped it and another classmate and I helped her walk."

Combes nodded sharply. "Right. Well, as long as there's nothing magical that happened to it, we should get her fixed up in no time. She won't even have to stay the night." He paused, searching Jael's face. "If you don't know the answer to this, you don't have to worry about it, but did she pass out from the blood loss?"

Seeming relieved to know the answer, Jael shook her head. "I don't think so. She didn't lose that much. Jackie just said that she doesn't like the sight of blood, especially not her own. She was getting dizzy when we were trying to clean it."

"You cleaned it?" Combes asked, impressed.

"As much as we could, sir. I only had a bottle of water, not any alcohol or peroxide. Nothing that would actually clean it, but the water at least washed the dirt out of the wound."

"Well, if you three would like to sit in the waiting area, I'll see if I can get Miss Jackie on the mend before she wakes up. No sense in her seeing any more than she has to, if blood is an issue."

Kreer, Jael, and Cari went back to the waiting area just inside the front entrance. When Mr. Kreer pulled a chair around to face the two group leaders, Cari knew they were in for a lecture. "Jael, why did you not use the radio?" The question was asked in a dangerously soft voice. It was not a promising start.

Jael stared at her hands, twisting and grasping together in front of her. "It was non-functional."

"Non-functional? It was perfectly functional when I gave it to you. What happened?"

"We let Graham carry it and he dropped it." Mr. Kreer remained silent and Jael explained, "He happened to be standing by a small cliff when it happened, and the walkie-talkie was kind of… destroyed." She thought for a moment. "I can pay you for it."

"A cliff-?" With such a serious situation brewing, it was all Cari could do to bite back the laughter bubbling up inside of her. She had never seen Kreer look so completely dumbfounded! "How far off the trail did you _get?_ "

Jael ducked her head even further and Cari watched Mr. Kreer force himself to calm down. "It doesn't matter. Why didn't you try yelling or getting our attention some other way?"

Shrugging, she replied, "I thought it would just be better to try and get everyone out together. The only other option was sending people off by themselves. It would have been faster, but it didn't seem like a good idea to split everyone up. I'm sorry, Mr. Kreer. It was all my fault."

Kreer sat back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach and half-closing his eyes. "No, it's really my fault. Fleet tried to tell me you guys weren't ready to go out by yourselves yet, but I insisted. She'll be impossible to deal with when she finds out," he added in a mumbling tone. "Guess I have a bit more to teach you guys before we get to really dig into the fun stuff."

Rebecca, Jackie's roommate, burst through the door. "Where is she?" the girl demanded, struggling to keep ahold of the variety of goods in her arms.

Cari gestured back toward Jackie's bed. "She's in there. If you want to sit down and wait with us, you're welcome-"

"That won't be necessary," a voice interrupted, and everyone turned to find Combes at the entrance to the waiting area. They all stood and he smiled reassuringly. "She's fine. She warned me that her roommate would be coming with 'supplies' and to tell the other three that you don't have to wait around."

Rebecca rushed past him and Combes came over to speak with Kreer. Jael and Cari unabashedly eavesdropped. "How's she looking, Doc?" Kreer asked.

Combes kept his soothing smile in place. "I was telling the truth: she'll be fine. We cleaned up her leg and wrapped it before giving her a potion that will speed the healing process. I expect that she'll be ready to be discharged in three, maybe four hours, just to be safe." He turned to Jael. "I must commend you, young lady. If you had access to the proper disinfectant, you could have taken perfect care of that wound by yourself without magic. If forced to, of course. Very nice work."

"Thank you, sir," Jael replied, ducking her head once more. Cari couldn't blame her, not really. Doctor Combes did have a disturbingly direct gaze.

Kreer shook the doctor's hand and thanked him once more before escorting Cari and Jael back to the main building. "Both of you really did do very well today. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say that earlier, but tomorrow we'll talk about everything that happened and work it into the lesson plan. Hopefully, nothing like this will happen again, but I'm glad we were able to get it taken care of so easily this time around. You two have a good night."

With that, he disappeared around a corner, walking toward his classroom. Cari and Jael turned toward each other, staring. Finally, they both burst into giggles, laughing away the stress of the past few hours. When they had finally subsided, Jael sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I don't know about you, but I need something to drink." Cari definitely could use something to wipe away the scratchiness in her parched mouth and throat, so she nodded and followed her new friend.

* * *

Author's Note \- Thanks for reading yet another chapter of my strange story (posted today from The Wizarding World at Universal Studios Orlando!). If you have feedback about any aspect, I would love to hear from you. Thanks to HarryPotterFanHermione for the continued support! Glad to know someone is reading this. :) Hope you all have a great day!


	12. October

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I don't own _Harry Potter_ and I'm sad about it every day. J.K. Rowling, your imagination is too perfect for words.

It's also worth noting that, if you are particularly sensitive to bullying-type situations, this chapter may be a little intense for you. No shame, just skip it and catch up next week.

* * *

October

At the very end of Survival class the next day, located safely in the classroom, Mr. Kreer announced that he had calculated the scores from their project. With a glance over at Jackie, who still wore a light wrapping around her calf, he said, "As you all know, Romana's group made it to the required destination first. That is worth seventy-five points." Cari's team members smiled, already congratulating each other, but she kept her gaze firmly on the teacher. "Delaney's group made it unaided to the finish which is worth fifty points. However, there were some things that happened which I had to take into account."

The class quieted, half with hopeful expressions while the others looked distinctly nervous. "I was told by several members of the group that Delaney told them not to step over a fallen tree they came across because snakes like to curl up on the sides. I never taught you that, but it was in the reading I assigned, so, though someone got hurt, I still must reward that effort. Miss Delaney's team receives an additional twenty points. Finally, due to the first aid administered by Delaney when the injury occurred, I am giving her team another thirty points."

Protesting broke out among the students who had been on Cari's team, and Kreer shot them a glare. "Hey! Three things: one, I am the teacher and I decide who to award points and why. Two, I was told by the only medical professional I've ever trusted that Delaney cleaned and bound that wound at a nearly expert level. That's worth some points. And three, I'm not finished yet." That quieted the class down immediately, and Kreer folded his hands on his desk. "I also heard that Romana gave a quick lesson on map reading out there. How many of her team members feel they learned something from that explanation?"

Hands shot up and Kreer theatrically counted them, muttering loudly, " _…ten…eleven…twelve. Okay, so two points per student, plus a point for Romana for explaining it brings the total to…"_ He stared down, making a note on the paper in front of him before pulling a shocked expression and saying, "That brings Romana's group up to one-hundred points as well. Guess it was a tie."

The period end bell buzzed and Kreer looked up at it. "Look at that, time to go." No one moved. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of here!" He made a shooing gesture and the students rose, unsure whether it had been an honest coincidence or If they had been taken in by the odd professor.

Jael caught Cari's eye and jerked her head toward the teacher. Cari nodded and both stayed behind, Cari promising to catch up with Lydia in a few minutes. When the rest of the class had left, they approached the teacher behind the desk, who pretended not to see them. When they obviously weren't going to give up and leave, he sighed. "What?"

Crossing her arms, Jael asked bluntly, "Did you do that on purpose?"

He scoffed. "Of course not. I had the syllabus for this project all printed up weeks ago. See? 'High-level emergency first-aid, thirty points'. It's all right here."

Cari put her hands on her hips. "Mr. Kreer, we could both see that you wrote that as we walked up here. Did you do it on purpose? Because I really think Jael's team should have won."

The other girl turned to her, eyes wide in shock. "Me? You're the one who made it first, fair and square. I'm not going to cheat you out of your victory because I happened to know some trivia about snakes and know how to bandage a wound."

Speaking in an utterly disinterested tone, Kreer said, "Well, isn't it convenient that you tied, then. Good-bye."

"Mr. Kreer," both girls said together.

The teacher sighed. "If you're insinuating that I felt sorry for either of you, you're wrong. And why would I make your scores even on purpose? Certainly not because half the students in this school thought this was some kind of blood-purity showdown, or because you both deserve to have led your team to a victory one way or another." His eyes sparkled at their shocked expressions and he ran a hand down his beard smugly before adding, "Now, will you please leave? I do have better things to do on a Friday night than sit in my classroom."

"Yes, sir!" Jael and Cari said, finally doing as he asked.

Most of the weekend was spent helping Lydia set up some more of her preparations for her Halloween party. Honestly, it was a lot of walking around and asking different teachers if they would agree to help Lydia with different parts of the planning. The only time Cari truly thought someone was going to say no was when they asked Professor Garbin if he had decided to do the warming charms on the area. Lydia had said he seemed fairly positive that he could do it when she had asked him weeks ago, but after he took a look at Cari, he seemed much more reluctant.

"I just get the feeling that man doesn't like me. Not one little bit," Cari muttered.

Lydia looked surprised. "You mean Professor Garbin? Nah, I'm sure he does. He's just got that 'grumpy old man' thing going on, you know?"

Cari shrugged, but didn't bother responding to the rhetorical question. "Come on, we have to go water our pea plants. Today's the even-numbered day."

Though she complained, Lydia allowed herself to be pulled toward the greenhouses. Thankfully, some of the other first-years were there and invited them to hang out in the student lounge. It still wasn't how Cari wanted to spend her weekend, but it beat tracking down teachers to ask for favors.

Weeks slipped by as the leaves began to change and fall, a chill entering the air. More and more students were walking around in scarves and gloves. Cari wasn't that cold yet, but the area was cooling much more quickly than she had expected. One particular mid-October day, it just refused to warm up outside. When it was still less than 50 degrees at lunch, Cari ran back to her dorm room to retrieve a hat and gloves her mother had packed. Oddly, the door leading from the cafeteria to the first floor of the Physical Wing was locked. Cari shrugged over at her friends and left to go the long way: up the stairs, around the exterior hallway, and down the stairs by her Survival classroom.

She froze at the top of the stairs leading to the external hallway when the sound of whistling reached her ears. She wasn't ready for another run-in with Pitt. Eric and Fletchmeister had run interference for Cari whenever they happened to be walking with her, and even Lydia had grown accustomed to shoulder-checking the older boy, serving as a distraction while Cari slipped by in the background. However, they weren't with her all of the time, and Cari refused to be dependent on someone else to walk through the school which served as her home.

She peered carefully around the corner, but Pitt was nowhere to be seen. The whistling had stopped as well. _It's not like he's the only one who can whistle,_ Cari told herself as she rushed down the hallway. She was nearly halfway down one side of the building when she ran headlong into something solid. Cari bounced backward, falling heavily onto the ground. She sat for a moment, attempting to get her bearings, but her bag was ripped from her shoulder before she could stand again. Pitt stood, mockingly swinging the bag back and forth in front of her. Cari scrambled to her feet, but he Stunned her as she reached for the bag. She could only watch helplessly, frozen in place, as the hateful boy rifled through her belongings.

"Did you know," he asked, barely glancing in her direction, "I got the most interesting assortment of visits after our last conversation? I suppose some poor saps have taken you in as a pet of sorts. Idiots. Mongrels are dangerous pets. Anyway, I can't let them think I'm actually afraid of their threats, but everyone needs to remember that you are afraid of me. And rightfully so, I might add."

Pitt pulled out a handful of papers, letting them fly away into the wind. Cari managed to make a noise as she watched her Transfiguration notes disappear. There was a quiz tomorrow! Hearing her frustrated cry, Pitt rolled his eyes. "Relax, Mongrel, there's nothing you can do. Witches and wizards with much more magic than you fail to break a Stunning spell." When he pulled his hand back again, Pitt held _Early Eras of the Wizarding World_ , a basic history book Cari had checked out of the library. Cari made another stifled sound and Pitt grinned. "This looks like an interesting book. I think I'll borrow it. I'll only have it for a day or two. You see," he said conversationally, "I already know everything in it. I _belong_ here, unlike some of the garbage they let into Echowick. Nothing personal, of course."

He began pacing in front of her motionless form, tapping his chin as if in deep thought. "That still leaves me with a problem: I can't just let you have this back when I'm done. You don't need to know much about wizarding history, since you aren't really a part of the wizarding world now, and I expect you'll stop pretending to be before too long. I know," he said, wheeling toward her with an unpleasant gleam in his brown eyes, "I'll just burn it once I'm done! It's perfect! Page by page, sentence by sentence, this book will turn into nothing but ash. Thanks a ton, Mongrel."

He walked down the outer hall, canceling the Stunning spell just before he turned the corner. Visions of her last experience with Pitt played in Cari's mind and she knew burning her book was exactly the kind of thing he would do. Rather than pick up her bag or try to collect her papers, Cari did exactly what Pitt wouldn't expect: she went after him. Racing down the corridor, she barreled headlong around the corner. Pitt stood about halfway down this side, directly in front of the Arts Wing, studiously casting a spell that caused fire to blaze at the tip of his wand. Cari sprinted forward, tackling him just before he lit the book on fire. He blinked up at her, dumbfounded as she snatched the book from his hand. When he reached for it again, she hit him across the face with the hardcover book. "Never, _never_ think you have the right to touch my things! How dare you? You think you can Stun me, take my belongings, and I won't retaliate?"

Lying flat on his back, blood trickling from one corner of his mouth, Pitt smiled. A chill raced up Cari's spine, spreading an icy numbness through her body as he said, "Retaliate? What a wonderful idea." Cari reached down and snagged his wand before he did and threw it as hard as she could off the balcony. She turned and ran toward her bag, hoping desperately to get to somewhere safe before he retrieved his wand. Unfortunately, just as she had left her bag, he didn't bother with his wand.

Cari heard his footsteps behind her as she ran and had only a split second to brace for impact before she was falling with his weight on top of her. She skidded along the floor of the corridor, the skin of her elbow and right forearm taking the brunt of the fall. Just before their momentum ran out, Cari's head snapped forward, making sharp contact with the stone floor. Something warm started leaking into her eyes, but she could ignore it well enough to realize Pitt was talking, ranting, at her. "…you disgusting Mongrel. When will you learn that you have no rights in this society? We value the pure of blood, like me. You- 'mud' is too nice a word for the sludge that pumps through your veins! You know what? I'll just take your wand. You don't need it anyway, since you don't have the magic to actually use it. Not that it'll last long, anyway. I've broken four wands in the past year alone, and this one feels particularly… fragile."

Dimly, Cari realized that she should be doing something to stop Pitt from taking her wand, but she was feeling extremely strange. The liquid in her eyes seemed to be seeping in from the edges now, tunneling her vision until she could hardly see at all. Her head was heavy, far too heavy to hold up, and she gently rested her cheek on the oddly-warm stone floor. Just before her eyelids fluttered closed, Cari heard bells as a voice barked, "Hey! What's going on out here?" Her vision went black before she could turn to see who was there.

* * *

Cari's eyelids fluttered open, giving her a view of an unfamiliar ceiling. She had a disoriented moment of trying to remember where she was. "Hello, Miss Romana," a pleasant voice said, somewhere off to her left. She moved her head in that direction, but stopped as she clapped a hand to the shooting sting in her neck.

"Ah," said the sympathetic voice. "I had a feeling you would still be in pain after all of that."

"All of- I'm sorry. Where am I, exactly?"

A familiar-looking man strode up to the side of the bed. He was a blur of teal, tan, and black for a moment before Cari's vision cleared and she found herself staring up at Doctor Combes. He gave her a mock scowl. "Is this how it's going to be all year, Miss Romana? You saw how nice my hospital is and now you're trying to get into it again?"

Cari smiled, but a throbbing in her forehead made her drop her head back onto the pillow. She reached up to massage the spot, but Combes caught her arm. "I'm sorry; you can't touch your forehead just yet. It's still healing."

"Healing…" Cari asked, just as the memory of her afternoon journey and subsequent fight flashed into her mind. She groaned and Doctor Combes nodded.

"Yep. That must have been some fight you were in."

How much did he know? She decided to play it safe, widening her eyes up at him. "Fight? I don't recall a fight, sir. I tripped coming up the stairs and I guess I hit my head."

Doctor Combes raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Yes, I've heard all about your incidents with stairs." He sat down and leaned forward, resting forearms on his legs. "I'm going to be honest with you, Miss Romana, I don't know what happened. However, I do have what I think is a pretty good guess: I think Pitt Geikas attacked you, just like he attacked you last month. Never too late to come up with a different story, by the way, because the stair thing might be played out. Anyway, the problem is that your attacker ran away before anyone could get a good look at him. Pitt has four or five friends who swear that he was with them for the entire lunch period and his wand shows no signs of offensive spells."

Giving a slight snort, he said, "Well, I could have told them that. Your wounds show no sign of being caused by magic, so they won't be able to track your attacker that way." His gaze sharpened. "Most of the teachers and administration believe that Pitt was the one who attacked you. He's shown similar violent outbursts toward Muggle-born students in the past. However, unless you tell us directly that it was him, there's no reason to investigate him further and nothing we can do."

Cari remained silent as the doctor sighed. "Fine. I had a feeling you wouldn't give him up. Miss Romana, I just want you to remember that he is not unassailable, nor is he all-powerful. If you ever decide that you would like to give an honest account of this afternoon, something could be done to fix the whole situation. Until then, I'll say no more about it."

A light chime rang through the room, and Doctor Combes stood, clapping his hands on his thighs. "Brace yourself. That was the bell for the end of the school day and we have visiting hours until six. From the commotion your friends have been making since we brought you here, you'll have plenty to keep you busy until then."

"I've been here that long? When can I leave?"

The joking light went out of Combes' eyes. "Miss Romana, when you were transported here, you had a concussion, a broken arm, and you were bleeding internally. Your teeth had bitten through your lip, your nose was broken… I could go on. You're very lucky to be living in a place with magic, or you would be stuck in a hospital for weeks. As it was, we were able to fix everything up somewhat easily, but I'll likely need to keep you here overnight to be sure that the internal bleeding has stopped. With any cases concerning life-threatening injuries, magic or no, it is standard to keep the patient under observation for at least twenty-four hours to be sure there were no complications. We should be able to discharge you around lunchtime tomorrow if the healing progresses as it should." She gaped, but he cut her off before she could protest. "I can't stress to you how dangerous your situation was. If you hadn't been found by your Wing Leader and brought here when you were, it's possible you would be in a major hospital right now with doctors unable to promise you would recover. Just take it easy." He looked toward the entrance, sighing. "Aaand here we go."

Cari didn't even need to ask what Doctor Combes was talking about; the noise coming from the door spoke for itself. "Where's Cari?" "Is she okay?" "Cari!"

Doctor Combes didn't even try to keep the long-suffering tone from his voice. "She's right back there, you can stop shouting."

A flood of her classmates descended on Cari. Lydia, Shadow, Chayton, Jael, Eric, and her other friends were there, along with a number of classmates she knew only vaguely. "Ooh, look at your poor head!" Lydia exclaimed before leaning down to whisper, "There are a couple of people here who only wanted to hear the story from you. We couldn't keep them from coming along, but you can ask them to leave if you want."

That would be a little blunt, even for Cari, but she just nodded and muttered, "Okay, ask me really loudly what happened."

Lydia nodded and stepped back. "So, Cari, can you tell us what happened?"

The ruckus died suddenly as everyone strained to hear her response. Cari, propped up on some pillows, shook her head and forced a blush. "I was rushing to get to the greenhouses in time for class and I slipped on a piece of paper lying on the exterior hallway. I guess I was moving pretty quickly, because I skidded on my elbow," she lifted it to show the newly-formed scab, "and hit my face on the ground," she gestured toward the painful spot on her forehead, still careful not to touch it.

Looking disappointed at the lack of gossip material, most of the students Cari didn't know offered their sympathies and wished her a speedy recovery before making excuses and leaving the building. When it was just Cari and her own familiar social group, Eric stepped up to the side of her bed. "Cari… Was it Pitt?"

Cari avoided his direct gaze. The last thing she needed was her quiet friend blaming himself for the situation. Her silence must have been answer enough, as Fletchmeister groaned softly. "I knew one of us should have gone with you. That guy is trouble."

Picking at her blanket, Cari muttered, "I never said it was him. Can we talk about something else, please?" She gave them her best pitiful look. Of course, it was easy, lying in a hospital bed, but still. Thankfully, the topic switched to school and they told her everything she had missed.

Eventually, almost everyone left, heading off to work on homework or grab dinner. Lydia sat gently on the edge of Cari's bed as Jael and Shadow went to thank Doctor Combes and ask him a few questions. Lydia looked very solemn and it put Cari on edge. As soon as the other two were out of earshot, she brushed at her roommate with a knee. "Hey. You look too serious over there. Tell me what's going on."

Lydia sighed, tucking a strand of dark hair behind one ear. Cari could see tears brimming in her newly-revealed eyes. Cari was about to ask again what was wrong when Lydia turned to her fully, saying haltingly, "I can't- I mean, no one-" She let out a quavering sigh. "No one will agree to come to my Halloween party!"

Cari stared at her roommate. She desperately wanted to ask if Lydia was serious, but she also didn't want the girl to cry. Trying to placate her friend, Cari asked, "Well, who is it that hasn't accepted yet?"

Sniffing quietly, Lydia choked out, "Everyone! I can't get anyone to agree to come until they know who else is going to be there and no one else has agreed! I don't know what to do."

"Hey," Cari said, in as comforting a tone as she could muster while lying in a bed. "Do you trust me?" Lydia nodded silently. "Then let me figure out a way." Lydia nodded again, gave Cari a quick hug – Cari stifling a groan – and left to go get something to eat. Just before she went, she leaned in to furtively whisper, "If I had known the school's doctor was so hot, I would have been here a long time ago!" Cari could only laughingly shake her head at Lydia's antics and wave goodbye.

Jael walked over, leaning on the footboard of Cari's bed. "So, tell me the truth. It was Pitt, wasn't it?" Cari picked at the poor blanket some more, but her friend wasn't having it, grabbing the bed frame and shaking it roughly. "Hey! You know I'll stick up for you, right? Blood is a crappy way to judge anyone and Pitt is a pretty good argument against the high status of Purebloods." She cleared her throat, looking away. "Now that it's awkward, is there anything I can do for you?"

Cari started to shake her head, but an idea slowly began to form. "Actually, there is." She gave Jael an annoyed look. "Have you heard about this party Lydia is planning? I mean, it sounds like fun, but she's stressing out so bad about how no one's agreed to come yet. I'm just kind of sick of hearing about it, you know?"

She moved as if to rub her forehead, but stopped herself; purposefully drawing attention to what she knew was an ugly mark. Cari thought she was probably laying it on a bit thick, but it worked. Jael grimaced. "Yeah, she's asked me to it already. So, you're going?"

"Yep. Is there any way you would consider coming along?"

Jael sighed. "Well, I promised Willa we would hang out. I mean, the party sounds like fun. Is there any chance I could bring her? She's kind of quiet, but I feel bad just leaving her alone."

Cari shrugged. "I'm sure Lydia would love it if she came. And thank you so much! You're really helping me out. And if there's anyone else you want to invite, I'm sure Lydia would be okay with it."

They talked for a few minutes more, but sharp-eyed Jael left as soon as she saw Shadow approaching. He stood awkwardly next to the bed. "Hey. Oh, wait-" he dug in an inside pocket of his jacket. "Tessa is stuck doing some project and couldn't come with us, but she sent these." He held out a bag filled with chocolate chip cookies, which Cari gleefully accepted, distantly noticing his scraped and scabbed-over knuckles

"I should have been with you," Shadow said suddenly, leaning back against the wall.

Swallowing a mouthful of cookie, Cari shook her head. "No, you shouldn't have. If I can't walk around the school without an escort, it's time for me to call it quits. I can't depend on anyone that much. I would go insane. Speaking of potential insanity, what happened to your knuckles?"

Mouth quirking in a small smile, Shadow sounded carefully nonchalant. "Motorcycle accident, no big deal. I know you're super independent. But still, I don't like that you have to face this guy alone every time. And yes, we all know exactly who it was that did this."

Doctor Combes stuck his head out of the office before Cari could call Shadow on his stupid motorcycle cover story. "Visiting hours are over, Mr. Hale. You might want to go grab some dinner while it's still being served. Cari, the night nurse will be arriving soon. I'll introduce you and do one more check before I leave."

Both students called out thanks and he returned to the office. Awkwardly, Shadow and Cari said goodnight, having completely lost the thread of their previous conversation. "Shadow," she called and he turned back as Combes gave them a warning glance. "Why haven't you guys agreed to go to Lydia's party? She's really stressing out."

He shrugged. "Well, none of us were sure who was going to be there. We all like Lydia, but if you weren't her roommate, I don't know if she would be part of our group. Are you going?"

"Of course!" The fact that he thought she would miss her roommate's party stung Cari's sense of loyalty. "Jael and Willa are coming, too. Will you come? And see if you can convince Eric, Chayton, and Fletchmeister to come as well? That should bump her guest list up enough to make her happy."

Shadow nodded after a second's thought. "Yeah, I'll come. And I know I can convince the guys to show up, too." Combes cleared his throat loudly and Shadow checked the wall clock. "I'd better hurry if I want something for dinner."

"Yeah, I guess you better. Thanks for coming to visit me."

After a moment, Shadow picked up her hand from where it had been resting on the bed. He made very direct eye contact as he said, "Like I would miss this. I had to see for myself that you were okay. Just… take it easy. We'll get your classwork for you." He was silent for a moment. "Cari… I really am glad you're okay."

With that, he dropped her hand and left. About an hour later, Lydia came by with pajamas, a change of clothes, some textbooks, Cari's battered copy of _Alanna: The First Adventure_ , and stories of how Pitt had been randomly attacked as he walked to the cafeteria. Cari thanked her roommate emphatically for all of it and in return told her about the party's growing guest list. Lydia was thrilled and walked on clouds out of the building.

The night nurse, who insisted on simply being called Gina, was friendly and vivacious. She let Cari read for almost an hour before insisting that the lights be turned off. Throughout the night, Gina woke her up every hour on the hour, but between the checkups, Cari slept a pure, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Author's Note \- Hey, guys! I made it through the hurricane without losing power, so this is a celebratory extra chapter. Look for another one on Monday. Thanks for reading and shout-out to HarryPotterFanHermione for the review and excellent observation! As always, I would love to hear any feedback, positive or negative. Have a great day!


	13. Firsts

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any of the ideas/themes used in this story. All of the non-original elements belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Firsts

Thankfully, Lydia's Halloween party had been a tremendous success. Shadow, dressing as Igor from _Young Frankenstein_ , had won the contest and they watched the Mel Brooks movie – with some creative editing done… after all, they were only eleven, an awkward enough age without adding sexually-charged humor into the mix! Tessa had baked a variety of treats besides those provided by the house elves. Professor Garbin had cast a warming charm around the area, decorated with straw bales as seats and lit with hanging skull lights and flickering jack o'lanterns. Shadow was there with 'his guys', Eric, Fletchmeister, and Chayton. Tessa and Toby came from the Academics Wing. Jael brought Willa, who, based on the way they talked most of the night, was apparently friends with Kimber.

Cari couldn't help but stare at the so-described 'shy girl'. Her long silvery-blonde hair flowed in a silky sheet over narrow shoulders, tapering off at the perfect length to accentuate a small waist. Willa seemed to constantly study her surroundings with eyes a unique shade of dark purplish-blue.

"Wow, Willa is really pretty," Cari whispered to Jael. She had seen the girl from a distance at dinner or during a couple of classes, but she really was a knockout up close.

Jael shrugged. "Veela blood. What are you going to do?"

By the end of the night, everyone in the group was sitting in a circle, chattering like old friends in between ghost stories. Kimber proved to be particularly adept at weaving the scary tales. It wasn't until she was halfway through the story of a doll possessed by a serial killer that Cari finally figured out she was summarizing famous horror movies. "I thought you were a Pureblood?" she blurted as Kimber finished her narration.

To her shock, the unflappable girl blushed deeply. For the first time in Cari's memory, Kimber spoke directly to her. "I am, but I've always loved Muggle cinema. Disney movies, _Alien_ , and all of the horror movies… The wizarding world has nothing to compare."

Cari's dorm-mate actually smiled at her and she returned the expression. She was seeing a different side of the aloof first-year, and anyone who liked _Alien_ was someone Cari could get along with. When everyone finally returned to their dorms, they had managed to clear up the area completely. Professor Tallet had asked them to push the straw bales against the side of the main building, where she could come and get them sometime the next day. Apparently, there was some way for her to use them in the greenhouses.

When Cari and Lydia settled into their beds that night, Lydia did so with a happy sigh. "So," Cari started, smiling at her roommate's happiness, "Was it everything you hoped it would be?"

Lydia moved a little beneath her covers. "Well, not _everything_. No one pulled me into their arms and kissed me desperately, but for _realistic_ expectations, it went pretty well. Do you think everyone had fun?"

A note of anxiety had crept into her voice at the question, and Cari was eager to soothe it away. "Of course! Did you hear the way Toby and Jael were fighting about the origin of Halloween traditions? I wouldn't have missed that for the world. And when Tessa jinxed that one jack o'lantern to try to bite Chayton's foot… I don't know if I've ever laughed that hard in my life!"

Now, Lydia's voice held a hint of a smile. "I'm glad. I was worried, but it went better than I had ever hoped."

The companionable silence hung in the darkened room until both girls dropped off.

* * *

The next Saturday was the first Quidditch match of the year, held between the Academic and Arts Wings and by Thursday morning, Cari was already completely sick of the in-depth conversations happening at all times. She had known that it would likely be a popular topic, but hadn't counted on the competitive spirit amongst the students – at least, not the first-years. After all, none of them were even old enough to be on the teams!

She was quickly proven wrong. Many of the more Quidditch-crazed first-years had researched the high-scoring teams and players of recent years. They spent mealtimes, hallway walks, and even some class periods debating the strengths, weaknesses, and likely winners of the first game, and then what that would mean for the rest of the season – understandably, this intensely displeased some of the teachers. It seemed to be a fairly endless topic.

It got old quickly, particularly for Cari, who still didn't completely understand the game. Sadly, there was no escape from the passionate students, especially since most of them belonged to her own social group. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, tensions boiled over. Halfway through an intense argument between Fletchmeister and Shadow, Cari slammed her hands on the table, making contact on either side of her plate. Shocked, the debaters looked at her in questioning silence.

A little embarrassed at her outburst, but retaining a good bit of anger, Cari said, "Will you _please_ talk about something else? If I have to hear one more conversation about the potential scores between Karl Josef's hurt elbow and Patricia Adams' broken glasses, I am going to put my head through a wall!"

Eric's chuckle broke the silence that had fallen. "Don't worry, Romana. We'll make a fan of you yet."

Cari's mouth dropped open. "A fan? Are you serious? At this point, I don't think I even want to go!"

"Cari! You can't just skip the first Quidditch game of the year!" The protest, surprisingly, came from Lydia.

"Why bother? It's not like I'll miss anything. There's going to be a month's worth of discussion between these guys about every play that happens. I'll get the gist from their debates alone!"

Grabbing her upper arm in a surprisingly firm grip, Lydia gave her a little shake. "Don't you know that the first Quidditch is _the_ social event of the season? Especially for first-years! We have to bring our A-game, for sure. In fact, we should start planning outfits tonight!"

Chayton nodded sagely. "Ah, yes. That is what Quidditch is about. Fashion and social standing… No! Romana, you have to come along and I'll give you three good reasons: One, we're all going. Two, sometimes players get hurt and the gore factor alone is a good show. Three, this is the most popular sport of the wizarding world. Skipping the first game at your home school shows disloyalty to said school and disinterest in the wizarding world as a whole."

Everyone stared down the table at Chayton before looking back at Cari and making various noises of agreement. As she didn't respond, they grew louder until the group was starting to attract attention from the next table. Finally, she relented. "Fine. I'll go to the stupid game." The convincing noises turned to cheers as Cari grumbled to herself.

* * *

Cari sat in the stands, chilled to her bones. Her arms were wrapped around herself, gloved hands trying in vain to hold in the warmth from the jacket zipped over her tee shirt and sweater. "Soo…" Jael drawled, scooting up next to Cari. "How did you like your first Quidditch game?"

The game had ended nearly five minutes before and yet Cari still sat, staring at the field. The Arts Wing had won a decisive victory, thrilling the victorious Chayton, who they had all been able to hear clearly from across the wide pitch. "I- I mean, it-" She shrugged, pulling the jacket even tighter around herself before bursting, "It was the best thing I've ever seen! The way they were flying, swooping through the air- And the dives! Oh, those dives looked like the most freeing thing I can imagine! I don't know how they kept themselves from just soaring off over the forest!"

Willa, sitting on Jael's other side, laughed and leaned forward. Her nose was red with the cold, but she just looked cute instead of blotchy like anyone else would. "Yeah, flying is great. But what did you think of the _game_?"

Shrugging, Cari opened and closed her mouth at least three more times as she searched for the right words. "It was incredible. So much talent, all on one field... Don't get me wrong; it's a miracle no one was hurt, but…" she sighed blissfully. "How many more games are there?"

"Five," Jael said.

The simple syllable was enough to burst Cari's bubble. " _Five?!_ " she cried. "How can there only be five more games?"

"Well, they're actually called 'matches'," Willa corrected gently. "And each Wing only plays the other Wings once. It adds up to only six matches per school year."

Jael lifted a shoulder. "Believe me, we all wish there were more."

Behind Cari, Shadow picked his way down the steadily-emptying stands, coming to stop a row above her seat. "So, Romana, still wish you had skipped?"

"Hale," she said, turning, not knowing about the odd gleam in her eye, "you've got yourself a new opponent for debates about Quidditch."

He cocked his sandy blonde head at her and she stood, faux angrily. "You were so sure that the Arts Wing would lose with Josef's hurt elbow, but did you notice? He played right through that pain and helped them win! Adams, on the other hand, was too vain to wear her backup glasses and couldn't see a thing. Did you see how many points the Arts team got because she was guarding the wrong hoop?"

Shadow scowled down at her. "Hey! It's not that she was too vain, it's that she thought contact lenses were a better idea for flying. How is it her fault that the prescription was spotty? You can't tell me that you would play any better with everything a blur!" He stopped abruptly, shooting her a warm smile. "I'm glad you had fun, though. Does this mean you're coming to the rest of the games?"

"You couldn't keep me away if you tried."

"Unlikely. But you know next time around is Physical against Politics. You can't sit with the enemy." The last statement was spoken in a loud whisper with a nod toward Jael and Willa.

Jael opened her frowning mouth, but Willa gave a bubbling laugh and quickly spoke over her roommate. "If I know our team, you'll have more than enough to worry about without adding the two of us to the list!"

Shadow grinned. "You're probably right. What do you say we head to the Arts Wing? Apparently, there's a huge party in the Building 2 student lounge that's spilled out into the halls and Chayton said he'll vouch for us."

The high from discovering a love of Quidditch ended fairly early in the next week. After Cari's 'accident', things had been quiet, but on Tuesday morning, a boy had run from somewhere behind her to meet up with a group of friends down at the other end of the hallway. It was a perfectly normal thing, something she had experienced countless times in her life, but this was different.

Visions of Pitt's angry face flashed through her mind and her forehead began to sting as she hunched, arms up to protect her face. When no attack came, she lowered her arms, trying to ignore her suddenly-pounding heart. _What is going on?_

"Think I was coming after you again?" Pitt's soft voice, so close to Cari's ear, made her flinch again and jump backwards. Pitt smirked, brushing the dark red hair from his eyes. "Not here, Mongrel. Too many witnesses. But we'll meet soon for your next accident."

Breathing heavily, Cari watched him walk down the hall. When she managed to move her body, it was only to press her back up against a nearby wall. The cool stones radiated a slight chill through her robes, their solid weight managing to comfort her. There was no way of knowing how long she stood there, blinking far too often as she shook uncontrollably. _What is wrong with me? If this is magic, it's fairly pointless…_

Cari's new-found jumpiness didn't remain a secret for long. By Wednesday morning, it had become the newest Echowick trend to run up behind her, stopping just short of knocking her over completely. And of course, a group of the runner's friends would be standing so they could see her face. Each time, Cari had the same reaction as she had the first time, regardless of whether Pitt was anywhere in sight.

After Cari's Survival class let out, she wanted nothing more than to go down the stairs, crawl into bed, and sleep for as long as was humanly possible. However, she heard, "Cari! Hey, Cari!" coming from down the hall. Looking over, she found Stephanie was waving her over. Cari took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she approached the older girl. _After all, she did find me when Pitt… when I got hurt. The least I can do is listen to whatever she needs to tell me_.

Distracted by the sudden remembrance of Astronomy class that night, Cari noticed Stephanie's gaze sliding to track something moving behind her. For what felt like the hundredth time that day, footsteps ran up behind Cari, growing louder and louder as they approached. Cari flinched, hands raising to cover her face when the person grabbed her shoulders roughly, shouting, "Boo!" It was a stupid thing to say, and it was said in a stupid voice, so Cari felt utterly ridiculous when her mouth opened to release a small scream of fright. The strange boy circled her, laughing, though he stood so that Cari could clearly see Stephanie standing behind him.

All her anger and embarrassment built up and exploded, but she didn't shout. Instead, Carj's face crumpled as, mortifyingly, she started to cry. Cari could feel the betrayed expression slide across her face just before she turned and ran back toward the stairs that would deposit her in front of the door to her dorm room. She never saw Stephanie's shocked and agonized expression, and she certainly didn't see the older girl Spartan-kick the boy in the stomach.

Cari could hear Stephanie running after her, but there was an intense need inside of her to run, run far from the danger her body perceived. "Cari! Cari, please! Wait for just a second- Let me explain!" Cari ignored the pleas, but stopped short when she heard a sharp voice proclaim, " _Miss Romana, come here!_ " She turned to find Mr. Kreer standing just outside the door to his classroom and, wiping the tears from her face, approached him reluctantly.

Stephanie skidded to a halt in front of the teacher and student. "Mr. Kreer, I promise, I had nothing to do with that-"

Kreer nodded, waving her away. "I know. I saw the whole thing. Thank you for your honesty, but I would ask that you leave Miss Romana and I to talk now."

She agreed and retreated back down the hall to deliver some nasty words with the still-vomiting boy who had started the whole mess.

Mr. Kreer beckoned Cari inside, closing the door softly behind him. " _Geminio_ ," he muttered softly, pointing his wand at his desk chair. He pulled the extra around to the front of the desk, motioning his student to sit down in the replica as he took his customary spot in the real version. He folded his hands as he began. "Miss Romana, have you discussed your fight with Mr. Geikas since it occurred? With friends, family, someone you trust?"

"I don't know anything about a fi-"

Kreer narrowed his eyes as he pointed at her. "For future reference, I would rather you sit there in silence than lie to me. I'll ask again: have you discussed the… source of your injuries with anyone since the incident occurred?"

Cari shook her head and he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "That's what I thought. Cari," he said, eyes softening to something close to pity, "I think you're experiencing a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD." She opened her mouth, but he held up a silencing hand. "Wait, just hear me out. Do you have flashbacks to the event? Does your heart start to race? You have trouble breathing? Those are all symptoms of PTSD. Your counselor is Garbin, right? You might want to try telling him about your symptoms and that kids are messing with you."

Shrugging, Cari just found it easier to avoid the eyes of her favorite professor. _After all, he did say he would take silence better than a lie. To say I'll go to Garbin would definitely count as a lie._

"Ah," the professor said knowingly after a few moments of quiet. "So that's how it is." They sat in the soundless room, Cari consumed in trying to stop sniffling and Kreer lost in thought, eyes distant. "Well, even if you don't think you have a problem, there are some things you can do to help with the symptoms we talked about. They're called 'grounding techniques'. You can look some more up if these ones don't work, but they're pretty effective. The first one is counting."

Feeling like she was trapped in a nightmare, Cari sat staring at the floor. Mr. Kreer snapped his fingers in front of her and she flinched violently, jumping back in her chair. The professor looked distressed but determined. "See, you shouldn't have that much of a reaction to something so small. Feel how your heart is racing right now?" She nodded. "Okay, so count the ceiling tiles." Cari stared at him blankly and he raised his graying eyebrows. "Well? How many tiles are there in the ceiling?"

Her gaze snapped to the ceiling and she began counting diligently. _I don't know how this is supposed to help…_ Around the twelfth tile, her heart rate began to drop steadily. "Hey! I don't feel as freaked-out anymore!"

For the first time since she had entered his classroom that day, Mr. Kreer smiled warmly at her. "That's the idea. Another good technique…"

The lessons went on, taking a little more than half an hour, but Cari felt like so much weight had been lifted that it seemed to be only a few minutes. Now, she had a way to control how much she was affected by the actions of those around her. Mr. Kreer led her to the door. "You did really well today, kid. You're a brave one." He opened the door and they both stepped out.

When Cari reached the top of the stairs, Kreer added, "Oh, and Miss Romana? Try to be careful around stairs. Don't be afraid to hex the daylights out of 'em. And if that's too much, I'll teach you a few pressure points that will work even on… stairs." Cari smiled and the teacher gave a slight wave. "Have a good night, Romana."

When Cari reached the bottom of the stairs, she was shocked to find Stephanie sitting next to the door to her dorm. She stood quickly when she saw Cari, tucking a strand of long, burgundy hair behind one bell-earringed ear. "Cari! I just wanted to tell you-"

Cari cut the older girl off. "I know. I'm sorry I panicked so badly." She offered her Wing Leader a shy smile, which Stephanie returned.

"Never, ever apologize for that. You had every right to think what you were thinking. Ironically, what I wanted to tell you in the first place is that I'd heard what people were doing and I was going to ask if you wanted me to put a stop to it."

Shaking her head, Cari thanked the Leader for her offer. "But Mr. Kreer taught me some different ways to deal with it, so I should be fine."

Stephanie gave a dry smile. "Yeah, Kreer's good that way. Regardless, it's going to stop. All of this bullying is stopping, one way or another."

"You can't promise that. No one can."

"Watch me." Stephanie's sharp smile was certainly a chilling sight, even to someone at whom it wasn't directed.

* * *

Author's Note \- I'm sorry, guys. Really and sincerely. This chapter is so clunky and choppy and I hate it, especially that last line. Ugh. Shudders, but like, the bad ones. The only thing I can say in my own defense - not that it counts for much - is that this particular chapter was written in March or April and it's been too long for me to confidently fix it. I ask only that you put up with me and believe me when I say that my writing really has improved since I started writing this story!

All of that being said, I hope you managed to enjoy at least some part of this chapter. I would love to hear any feedback, especially if anyone has little writing tips that worked for you, or any writer's block-breaking tips! HarryPotterFanHermione, thank you for your kind words once more, and the hurricane was thankfully mild where I live. As for the ship name, I will bow to your expertise. I wish everyone a great day and good luck with whatever you've got going on. You've got this!


	14. November

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer - Harry Potter_ and all canonical elements of this story are owned by J.K. Rowling. The rest is just me having fun playing out different scenarios.

* * *

November

Cari sat on the edge of her bed, staring longingly across the room. Lydia was in the middle of packing frantically for her Thanksgiving vacation. Cari herself had to stay at the school. As her father had said, _"Your mother won't expect you to be home. After all, your_ Canadian _boarding school would hardly give you a week off for_ American _Thanksgiving."_

" _But Dad!" Cari had whined. "We have an entire week off! What am I going to do?" He shrugged at her helplessly and she sighed. "We should have just told her that my fancy boarding school was in Maine or Alaska or something."_

 _He grimaced at her sympathetically. "Live and learn, I guess."_

So that was that. Cari was stuck at Echowick for a week with nothing to do. All of her friends were going home, and she couldn't begrudge them the time with their families. She just had to resign herself to a long and lonely week. Lydia had asked Cari to sit as she packed, for a quick bit of 'roomie bonding time' before they were split up for the week.

It wasn't that Cari minded spending the extra time with Lydia – in fact, she was enjoying their strengthening bond – but the girl's constant bragging about her parents was starting to scrape Cari's raw nerves. At the moment, Lydia was taking a quick break to trim and paint her fingernails. "I doubt I'll have a lot of time to do it once I'm home. After all, my parents haven't seen me in almost four months. They probably won't let me be by myself the whole week!" Comments like this hadn't bothered her much at the beginning of the packing session, but they wore at her as Lydia continued making them.

Eventually, Lydia built up to saying, "I can't wait to be in my own home, sleeping in my own bed. Echowick is nice, but I can't wait to have a break from it. The atmosphere, the food, even the people are just… subpar." She continued talking as if she had said nothing offensive. Suddenly more depressed and frustrated than she had been in a long time, Cari picked up a random book and stood.

"Sorry Lydia, I just remembered that I was supposed to return this to Professor Perez yesterday. I need to get it back before he realizes that I'm late. When do you leave?"

Lydia looked disappointed. "I'll be leaving on the shuttle bus to the airport, so about twenty-five minutes from now."

Feigning regret, Cari frowned. "Oh, no. I guess I better say goodbye now. I doubt I'll be back in time to catch you before you leave."

They said brief goodbyes and Cari left the dorm room. By the time she had climbed the stairs, walked around the exterior hallway, and down the stairs to the grounds, it felt to Cari that she had seen and said goodbye to everyone she'd ever met, and she'd had to tell each of them that she wasn't going home for the holiday week.

Once she finally reached the main grounds of Echowick, Cari walked aimlessly, picking her way around until she ended up just inside the forest near the school's Quidditch pitch. Faintly surprised she still held it, the first-year looked down at the book she had used as an escape excuse. As it turned out, she had grabbed her Charms textbook. _Well, either Lydia wasn't paying attention or I'm a fantastic actress!_ She stared at the book, considering. _It is my worst subject… The forest would be an okay place to practice, I guess._

Cari ran through a number of the charms taught to the class by Professor Garbin, and managed most of them with ease before working through those she had trouble with until even they came easily. She stood, abruptly realizing that she was cold. After some light stretching and some blowing on her frozen fingers, she decided to walk to the Quidditch pitch. _I do have some time to kill. Maybe when I get back, the week vacation will have already passed?_ Smiling at her own ridiculousness, Cari made a beeline for the pitch.

When she stepped out onto the open field, she was just as awed as the first time she had seen it. The sheer scope of the playing area, the stretch of open space, combined with the immensely towering structures of the hoops made her feel like an ant crawling across the surprisingly springy grass of the pitch. _Of course, I guess the extra padding wouldn't help overly much if someone actually fell._

There was one major difference between the last time Cari had stood here and now: the area was completely deserted now. The first time she had seen this part of the grounds, they had been swarming with students decked out in different colors, some carrying signs cheering on various players. Chants had broken out, even before the teams had entered the area, and several students from each Wing had subtly been taking bets.

Now, the stands were empty and a slight fog was creeping onto the pitch. The quiet forest sounds were oddly muffled and even the colors in the area seemed to be dimmer than they had been only weeks before. Rather than finding all of this strange or off-putting, Cari relished the feeling of utter peace present on the pitch. Impulsively, she threw her arms out and spun, fully taking in the surroundings. She slowly came to a stop, arms dropping as she stared at a single point.

The broom shed was tucked unobtrusively behind the Politics stands, but Cari could still see it. What's more, she could see the door, secured only by a simple padlock: exactly the kind _alohomora_ was supposed to work on… As she walked over to the shed, Cari spoke quietly, trying to convince herself that this wasn't a terrible idea. She hadn't been able to practice the unlocking charm earlier, not carrying a padlock on which to use the charm. (She had briefly attempted transfiguring a leaf into a padlock, but had only ended up with a silver leaf.)

The shed was obviously built when the school was much younger. It was a small building, though as a shed, it was more than generous. Heavy stones made up the walls, sharp edges worn down by years of being exposed to the elements. It didn't have the climbing ivy that covered other parts of the school, but Cari supposed that no one would particularly want a quickly-spreading plant taking root so close to the immaculately-groomed Quidditch pitch. The roof was made of tin, sloping edges overhanging the sides of the building. The door was likely still the original or close to it. Made of heavy wooden beams, it looked solid, yet was secured with only a simple padlock, clearly out of place against the dark wood.

"I don't even know if this is going to work," she whispered to her guilty conscience, pointing her wand at the lock. Drawing in a steadying breath, she said clearly, " _Alohomora_." It popped open and Cari laughed ecstatically as she pulled the opened lock from its moorings. She stepped inside. There weren't very many brooms inside, and all of them looked as though they had been rather roughly used. Carefully studying them, Cari chose the least damaged broom she could find. As her palm came into contact with the first magical broom she had ever touched, Cari let out a small gasp. It felt _wonderful_! It was like an electric current, running through her body and back into the broom. She knew without a doubt that she could fly with it, despite having never even seen anyone fly on a broom before the Quidditch game.

Cari left the broom shed, carefully propping the door closed behind herself without shutting it completely. It wouldn't do any good to advertise the fact that she was out here, but trying two _alohomora_ s in one day felt like it would be pressing her luck. As she turned back toward the Quidditch pitch, a slender silhouette unfolded itself from the side of the Politics Wing stands. "I'm curious: how exactly would you have proceeded from here?"

Staring at the Headmistress, Cari was rendered speechless for an embarrassingly long time, but Fleet waited patiently. When the words finally came, Cari couldn't stop herself from blurting out everything that had been bothering her. "I can't go home for Thanksgiving but Lydia can and she's making me feel so much worse about being stuck here and I'm scared and I'm going to be bored but Quidditch was so cool and I really wanted to learn how to fly and- and- I'm sorry, Headmistress."

Fleet nodded supportively throughout Cari's spiel, and after she was sure the first-year had finished, she cocked her head to the side, holding a finger up in the air in a 'wait' motion. "Scared? Of what are you scared?"

Of course, the answer to this was 'Pitt', but she didn't want to admit that. Casting around, Cari said, "I'm scared that I won't ever get to fly. Are Muggle-borns even allowed to learn?"

This did the trick, as an indignant Professor Fleet lectured Cari on the ability to learn anything if only one shows a passion for knowledge. "…And while I refuse to lie and tell you that blood prejudices are completely a thing of the past, I will say that you need only question, as you just did, the procedures and there will likely be a way for you to be accommodated." She drew herself up and made intense eye contact with Cari. "I apologize for our oversight on the topic of flight. Of the Muggle-born students we have here, there are none who have brought up the lack of opportunity to fly a broomstick. I will see if there is a class we may offer in the spring, one which will safely teach you the skill." She paused thoughtfully. "Of course, it may be tricky getting students to sign up. You see, most children in the wizarding world have flown brooms a multitude of times before they arrive at school. Still, we may be able to interest some of them."

Touched as she was by the Headmistress' offer, Cari couldn't quite bite back a groan. She flopped gracelessly on the ground, moving the broomstick until it lay balanced across her knees. "Great," she said glumly. "Another thing for me to be terrible at." Picking at the twigs of the broom's tail, Cari looked up at Professor Fleet, she said, "If you hadn't noticed, I'm not the most popular student around here. Thanks for the effort, but I don't know if I'd be willing to go to a class and make a fool of myself in front of everyone, especially if they all know how to fly already."

Professor Fleet knelt down, looking Cari in the eye. "Miss Romana, you wouldn't make a fool of yourself. No one expects you to have the skills of someone who was brought up in this world if you never had the opportunity to learn them."

Cari was unconvinced. "But, see… I don't want to be the poor little Muggle girl everyone feels bad for. It would be really nice, just once, to exceed someone's expectations instead of them making allowances for the way I was brought up."

"I suppose I understand that." The headmistress sighed, standing. She reached out a hand, signaling Cari to pass her the broomstick. The first-year did so, immediately missing the sensation of the magical object against her skin. Fleet returned the broomstick to its previous place in the broom shed, locking the door behind her. She stood staring at the padlock for a moment before turning to Cari with a smile. "That was a very nicely executed _Alohomora_ , by the way." When Cari didn't return the smile, Fleet sighed, beckoning the girl to rise.

When Cari was upright once again, Fleet looked down at her sternly. "Please do not attempt something so foolish again, Miss Romana. Broomsticks, while perfectly safe in the hands of one who knows how to handle them, may be considered very dangerous in the hands of a novice. In the interest of your safety and those who might follow in your footsteps, I will make you a deal." She now had Cari's full attention and obviously fought back a smile. "If you will write me a full history of broomstick flight by the end of the holiday week, I will teach you how to fly safely in a private lesson. Do we have a deal?" She held out her hand, waiting for Cari's response.

It came quickly, with Cari enthusiastically shaking the woman's hand and saying, "Yes! Of course we have a deal! I'm going to the library so I can get started right away!"

In an amused voice, Professor Fleet gently reminded, "Miss Romana, it is only Saturday. You have a full week in which to write your essay. There is really no rush."

Cari shrugged. "I want it to be a really good essay. Besides, broomstick flight is a skill which should be practiced often until it is truly second nature. Only then may safe flight be assured in the absence of other factors." Fleet raised an eyebrow and Cari blushed. "I checked out a book on flying a few months ago. But that's a good thing! One should always be interested in the topic of an essay, isn't that right?"

"Indeed," the Headmistress said, only then beginning to wonder what she had volunteered herself for.

* * *

It was two thirty the next morning by the time Cari finally slammed the large dusty reference book closed. She had been so engrossed in finding the proper sources for her paper that the librarian had to remind her to go to dinner. Even then, she ate only the bare minimum and headed back to her room, lugging the huge books with her.

She was the only one left in the dorm, so she didn't have to worry about being interrupted. For that matter, the only ones left in the Physical Wing besides herself were a couple in their fourth year who wanted to spend the holiday together and Niccolo Rossi. Cari didn't know why the sixth-year had stayed, seeing as he was popular enough to be invited to a variety of places for Thanksgiving, but she hadn't worked up the nerve to ask.

Since there were so few people left in Echowick for the week, Fleet had requested that they all eat at one table. The seventh-year table was chosen, and they had only filled a fraction of it. From what Cari could see, there were less than fifteen students staying for the week, joined by Professor Tallet, Gina the night nurse from the hospital building, and the Headmistress.

After so many months of wishing desperately for a moment of peace, the silence was steadily driving Cari insane. Lydia had kindly left her expensive stereo behind, and while its high-quality speakers made the empty dorm a little more tolerable, Cari could still sense the underlying emptiness of the area. Sighing, she pushed the books into a neat stack on her desk. No dust was caked on their covers now; her searching fingers had made sure of that. She flexed her hands, stiff from writing pages and pages about the history of magical flight. Cari had to admit that Fleet was a very crafty woman. Broomstick flight had been taking place for over a thousand years, and there was plenty of history to cover. Even working at the breakneck pace she had been using, Cari estimated that she still had a solid day's work ahead of her.

When Cari finally fell into bed, the silence in the room was deafening. _Who would have thought that Lydia made so much noise even when she's asleep?_ Cari mused. Switching the light back on, she walked over to the window. About a month ago, a second-year student had kindly told Cari and Lydia the spell used to switch the scenes of the windows, and tonight, Cari didn't exactly want to hear 'Echowick Forests'. " _Mutatio_ ," she said, pointing her wand at an onyx disc set into the side. "Let's see," she mumbled aloud. "I don't want 'rain forest', 'mountain clearing' is just wind, 'desert' sounds like hissing… 'Beach' it is."

After propping the pane up slightly, Cari fell asleep quickly and easily to the sound of waves washing gently onto a white sand beach.

Waking to the sounds of chattering dolphins in the distance, Cari rolled out of bed, dressed in the bathroom – without waiting for a roommate to finally get out! – and walked into the cafeteria. Breakfast was nearing its end, but there were still a handful of people seated at the seventh-year table. She sat down and grabbed a slice of bacon and a small container of yogurt.

"Good morning, Miss Romana," Professor Tallet greeted. "How did you sleep last night?"

Cari shrugged, uncomfortable with speaking in front of all the older students. "I slept okay, I guess. It's just weird being the only person in Building One."

"You stayed alone in a Physical Wing building?" A boy sitting across the table, who she vaguely recognized as one of the fourth-year Physical Wing students, looked utterly alarmed.

"Um, yes?" she affirmed, idly wondering what had happened to his ever-present girlfriend.

"Don't you know the legend? Wait, you're just a first-year. Let me clue you in: A couple of years ago, there was a Physical Wing student training to be a wandsmith." Khan's voice was low and confiding. He even threw a glance over his shoulder every few sentences, as if someone or something would be joining them. The older boy went on with his story. "Well, he had just finished making his first wand and tried to test it, but for reasons no one knows, he decided the first spell he would use should be a curse. He waved the wand and said the spell, but the wand exploded, ricocheting the curse back at him with one hundred times the original strength! He died a slow, horrifying death. The worst part?" Khan leaned in and Cari unconsciously matched the movement. "They say his spirit still haunts the Physical Wing, where he wanders around with half a face, picking up wands, and trying to figure out where he went wrong. And if he touches your wand? The next spell you use will do to you what his did to him."

"Really?" Cari breathed, eyes widened in terror.

"No," a bored-sounding voice said from down the table. Cari looked over into Niccolo Rossi's dark eyes. "He's just messing with you, firstie. Don't listen to a word he says." Niccolo looked at the fourth-year. "Khan, not cool. Do not scare the firsties unless you want to pay for therapy."

Khan scowled. "Nic, it was working! Didn't you see how scared she was?" When the sixth-year still looked unamused, he looked back to Cari. "I was just messing with you. I'm sorry." Though the apology sounded more sarcastic than sincere, Cari graciously accepted it. Soon afterward, everyone finished their breakfast and went their separate ways. Cari, for her part, returned to her dorm room to work on her essay. She knew the ghost story had been a joke, but the thought kept coming up: _what if…_ She spent the rest of the morning glancing nervously over her shoulder.

By dinner time, Cari had finished her essay by virtue of hard work, excitement, a genuine passion for the subject, and skipping lunch. When dinnertime came, she marched into the cafeteria, made a beeline for Professor Fleet, and held out her essay.

Fleet looked at the sheaf of papers, perplexed for a moment. Cari couldn't blame her. By the time she had covered the major points of broomstick flight, she had written an essay that was over eight pages long. When the Headmistress finally processed what she was looking at, both eyebrows went up. "Miss Romana, I told you that you have until next Saturday..." She trailed off and stared down at the papers in her hand. "…Though I must admit that I admire your dedication. If you'll allow me to look over this, I'll meet with you to discuss our plan of action from this point forward."

Cari nodded and found a seat where she could watch Fleet without being obnoxious. The Headmistress ate steadily, pushing her plate aside when she finished to clear space for Cari's essay. She read steadily, flipping through the pages with a blank face. Cari was just congratulating herself on the excellent choice of unobtrusive seat when Fleet finished the final page and looked straight at her, beckoning her over. Slightly embarrassed, but more curious than anything, Cari joined the Headmistress at the end of the table.

Fortunately, Professor Fleet didn't draw anything out. "Excellent essay, Miss Romana. I believe you adequately covered the subject matter, and in quite an impressive time frame. Please meet me at nine o'clock sharp tomorrow morning on the Quidditch pitch. I do suggest wearing your robes over something warm that you don't mind getting dirty."

* * *

At 8:47 the next morning, Cari was pacing nervously on the clouded and gloomy Quidditch pitch. Her clothes, silly as they looked, were keeping her comfortably warm. In total, she was wearing an undershirt and a long-sleeved tee shirt under a sweater, paired with jeans, long socks, and tennis shoes. Her robes were over it all, making for an outfit that was warm without hindering her movements. Unfortunately, her nerves were in full play, uncaring of how her body felt about the temperature. She hadn't even been able to eat breakfast this morning. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…" she whispered to herself.

A laugh echoed across the pitch. "It's too late for that, Miss Romana. I am already awake and dressed, and I would hate to think all of that effort was wasted." Fleet, to Cari's surprise, wore an outfit similar to her own. The headmistress was always a picture of elegant style, but in these clothes, she looked almost… human. Smiling at the first-year, she walked over to the broom shed, opening the lock the non-magical way.

Eagerly, Cari darted inside, seeking out the broom she had connected with a couple of days ago. To her pleasure, the same electric warmth curled through her at the contact and she walked back outside, holding the broom carefully. Fleet took a broom at random and the pair walked onto the Quidditch pitch. "It may be cold, but we couldn't ask for a better day to fly." Cari stared at her headmistress curiously, and Fleet expanded, "No sun to get in our eyes and no fog to obscure our vision. Those two can be a dangerous distraction."

Cari straddled the broomstick. "So, how do I do this? Just kick off? I mean, that's what the books said, but it seems a little vague…"

"Well, first off, you're holding your broom upside down. Those metal pieces hanging off the sides are stirrups, and are made to hold your legs as you fly." Cari made the adjustment and Professor Fleet nodded approvingly. "Good. Now, grip the broomstick high up, like this. A higher grip gives you more control in the air. Now, do you feel those carvings beneath your fingertips? Those are runes carved into the broomstick to help the rider stay on, balance, land safely, et cetera. I'm sure you remember reading about the runes. But, before we actually fly the brooms, we have to… the best way to describe it is to 'calibrate' them to our magical signatures, in a way."

She laid her broomstick on the ground, motioning Cari to do the same. "Stand so that your dominant hand is over the broom. Then, you say 'up'. Now, since these brooms are old and have seen a lot of students, you may have to say it a few times-"

"Up!" Cari ordered. Her broomstick snapped to her hand so quickly that her palm stung.

Professor Fleet seemed impressed. "That was very good, Miss Romana. Up!" she said to her own broomstick, which didn't move at all. She gave Cari an embarrassed, 'what did I tell you' look. "Up! Up. Up. UP!" Finally, the broom lazily floated up to her hand. Fleet rolled eyes at her pupil as they both straddled their brooms. "Now, this is going to be the hard part for you. You must kick off, trusting that the broom is going to not only take you up into the air, but support you."

She demonstrated. It looked like she was holding the broomstick and jumped as high as she could. The only difference was that she simply kept rising up into the air. Once Fleet was off the ground by a few feet, she hovered, kicking her legs back into the stirrups.

Cari gripped the broom with white-knuckled fingers until she swore the broom gave a little shiver. Taking a deep breath, she jumped, pushing off of the ground with every ounce of strength she could muster. To her shock – though she tried to fight the feeling down – the broom kept rising, seeming to have no problem flying with her added weight.

"Good!" Professor Fleet cried. "Now, lower the angle of the broomstick to the ground and you'll hover there. Then you can use the stirrups."

Cari did as the Headmistress advised. "Good broom," she murmured, too softly for the woman to hear, but the broom certainly did, vibrating with the energy of a small puppy. Once Cari's legs were supported by the small metal bars, she looked back at Fleet, who smiled broadly and gestured to the huge open space beyond them. "Don't do anything crazy, but have some fun!" She soared off, Cari not far behind.

The first-time flier laughed ecstatically. Bubbles of joy seemed to be rising inside of her, along with a little frisson of fear. Cari pushed the bad feelings away, embracing the sensations as she zoomed across the field, experimenting with sharp corners, climbing far into the air before coming down in a series of shallow, swooping dives. "How did I ever live without this?"

* * *

Author's Note \- Thanks for reading! As trivial as this chapter might seem, it sets up a lot of elements for later chapters, especially tone and word count, which is really exciting! Anyway, feedback in any form is highly appreciated and, while I would never blackmail you guys for reviews, I will admit that reviews, follows, or favorites make me more likely to post additional chapters in a week. Just throwing that out there! Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful day and thanks again!


	15. Thanksgiving

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer -_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or the characters, settings, or ideas found in its pages. I make no money from the writing of this story (obviously) and own only the original elements it contains.

* * *

Thanksgiving

"Ease up, Cari!"

Disappointed and frustrated by the admonishment, Cari pulled out of the sharp dive she had been in, the steepest one she had attempted so far. She wheeled the broom around midair to face Professor Fleet. They had agreed yesterday, on their second day of flight lessons that 'Miss Romana' and 'Professor Fleet' were long and didn't travel very well over long distances and through heavy winds. Thus, for the rest of the time they were flying together, they had mutually agreed to go by 'Cari' and 'Fleet'.

Glaring at the Headmistress, she dragged an arm over her sweating forehead. "Why did you stop me? I had it!"

"No, you didn't," she snapped. "Do you even realize how steep that was? It was too dangerous."

"Fleet, we've been at this for days. I think I've figured out what I can and can't do by now. I knew exactly what I was doing!"

"I wouldn't even have attempted that dive and I've been flying for years!" Fleet looked down, checking the thick-banded black watch she had worn for their flight training. She angled over to hover beside Cari, and in a much more conversational tone, said, "Come, on, let's land. I need a shower and something to eat."

Cari would have liked to disagree, but her stomach groaned dramatically. She half-smiled at Fleet and flew in to land on the grass of the pitch. Her angle was a little steeper than ideal, but Cari knew Fleet wouldn't actually say anything. Or at least, that's what she hoped.

Once they had touched down and were walking back to the broom shed, Fleet said, "I must say, Miss Romana, I am very impressed by how hard you've worked over the past few days. And as someone who makes it a point to never lie to students, I hope you'll believe me when I say that you are very good, especially for someone with as little experience as you have."

She paused for a moment while they stored their brooms, giving Cari's gratified blush a chance to fade. On their walk back to the Echowick main building, Fleet gave Cari a sidelong look. "Has anyone told you about our Thanksgiving tradition at Echowick?" Cari shook her head. "Dinner isn't served until four, so it's a tradition to eat a brunch-type meal around eleven and then go play a friendly game of Quidditch."

Fleet simply left it at that, but the silence was thick with an unasked question. Cari frowned. "I don't think you'll need me to play since a few of the kids who stayed are Quidditch players. I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself in front of them."

"Judging by your performance over the past few days, Miss Romana, I doubt you would make a fool of yourself. However, I won't pressure you. I just wanted to put my bid in early. If you change your mind, I would very much like you to play on my team."

"Team?"

Fleet let out an exasperated sigh. " _Tallet_ ," she said, darkly. "She stays here every year because she doesn't trust anyone else to take care of her plants over the holiday. She may seem nice and sweet, but she is a Quidditch hustler! She always scopes out the best players and gets them on her team. She's won the past three years. But not this year." A fierce smile crossed her lips. "I convinced Mr. Rossi to be on my team, and with you on our side as well, there's no way any of her players would be able to beat us. But again, I don't want to pressure you."

Cari fought back a smile. "Thank you. Wait, is there any chance I could referee?"

Though she looked disappointed, Fleet still nodded. "If that's the only role you want to take, we could probably use an impartial judge. Skewed slightly to my advantage, of course."

Cari was ninety-five percent certain Fleet was kidding.

* * *

By twelve thirty on Thanksgiving Day, Cari found herself back on the Quidditch pitch. Everyone had eaten a quick meal before walking out to the field together. Cari had known that Quidditch was popular at Echowick, but was slightly surprised when all of the students staying at the school were eager to go out and play the game.

Fortunately, no one had a problem with Cari being the referee. She had followed the crowd to the broom shed, curious to see how seasoned broom riders chose their brooms. She was somewhat disappointed, however. The students simply filed in and out, grabbing brooms and passing them around as if the decision wasn't important at all. It was also confusing, yet gratifying, to realize that no one touched the broom she had come to think of as 'hers'.

"Why isn't anyone taking that one?" she asked one girl, a second-year Politics student named Hope. "It's the one in the best condition."

She shrugged. "I always heard it was cursed. It's thrown almost every student who tried to fly on it. Some of them got hurt pretty badly. It's kind of a student legend and we all try to warn each other not to use it. Why do you ask?"

Cari blinked silently at the girl. "Uh, no reason. Thanks for letting me know."

The girl smiled and walked onto the pitch behind the other players. Fleet, who apparently hadn't heard Hope's explanation, rested a hand on Cari's shoulder. "So, Madame Referee, are you going to keep score from the safety of the ground?"

Grinning, Cari grabbed her 'cursed' broom. "Not a chance."

For the most part, she just flew around the area, keeping an eye on the score and making sure no one got too overt with fouls. In the interest of a short, fun game, there was no Snitch released. Instead, the game was based only on goals made with the Quaffle. The first team with ten goals won. It wasn't until the game was wrapping up that Cari finally had to spring into action.

Blowing the whistle frantically, she signaled for play to stop as she shouted at one of the players. "Khan, stop moving! Just hover and keep very still." She dove over to where Fleet was floating just a few feet above the ground.

The Headmistress looked concerned. "Cari, what's going on?"

Cari spoke quickly, trying not to become tongue-tied. Time was of the essence. "The runes on the underside of Khan's broomstick are glowing. One of the books I read for my essay said that glowing runes means that one or more is getting ready to go out. Do I fly down and get him another broom?"

Fleet looked grave. "No time. I'll take care of this." She flew rapidly over to Khan, who looked restless. Though Cari was too far away to hear the conversation taking place, she could tell that the boy was arguing with Fleet. At the last second, the Headmistress bodily grabbed Khan by the arm and pulled him onto her broom in front of her. The broom he had been using hovered in the air for a moment and Cari wondered if she had made a mistake… and then the broom began spinning in the air, over and over.

Professor Fleet and Khan began shallowly but steadily descending. Before they made it to the ground, Khan's broom took a sharp turn downward and crashed at full speed into the soft grass, splintering into small fragments. Professor Tallet, Cari, and the rest of the students all landed and silently gathered in a circle, staring down at the pile of broom chunks.

Face pale, Khan looked at Professor Fleet in gratitude. "Professor, you- you saved my life. I can't thank you enough."

Fleet pointed to Cari. "Don't thank me. Miss Romana is the one who saw the runes glowing. If she hadn't noticed it…"

They all looked down at the remains of the broom. Khan silently held a hand out to Cari. She shook it, returning his firm grip. It had easily been one of the scarier moments of her life. "Looks like the vertical control went out," she theorized, toeing at the scraps of wood and straw.

Voice loud in the silence of the pitch, Fleet said, "Do we want to grab Khan another broom and keep playing, or do we just consider the game complete?"

The game was over.

After everyone went back to their rooms to clean up and change, they all met in the cafeteria. The food was already sitting on the table and smelled absolutely delicious. Though Echowick was by no means a strictly Christian school, Fleet asked if anyone would object to her saying grace. There were no objections and they began eating shortly after the 'amen'.

The meal was calm and happy, conversations and laughter ranging up and down the table. Cari would never have thought that she would enjoy a Thanksgiving spent away from her family, but the other students truly made her feel like she was part of an actual holiday celebration.

* * *

Friday seemed to pass in a flash. Cari had slept in, a stomach full of turkey drugging her into a stupor. Though it had been a surprisingly fun week, Cari really began to miss her friends as time moved on to the weekend. Their jokes, their personalities, even their voices made her heart pang in an odd form of homesickness. Sometimes, she swore she heard Eric's slow, methodical tones, or Tessa's comfortably confusing slang. She didn't quite miss Kimber's precise, upper-class accent, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she did.

Fortunately, students began filtering back into Echowick by Saturday morning. By mid-afternoon, Lydia had returned. Cari sat on the edge of her bed and watched Lydia unpack, a feeling of déjà vu passing over her. "So," she commented, swinging her feet. "How was it?"

Lydia shrugged, not turning around from her open suitcase. "It was okay, I guess."

When she didn't expand, Cari stopped her idle kicking and scrutinized her roommate. "And-? Did your parents let you have any time alone, or were they glued to you for the whole week?"

"I had some time by myself," she said shortly.

Cari tried to ask some more questions, but as Lydia continued giving tense, abrupt answers, she gradually grew irritated. _If she doesn't feel like talking, why should I keep asking? Not like she's asked about my week at all._ She made her excuses and left, deciding that now would be the best time to take back her reference books, since she'd been too busy flying during the week.

After politely greeting Megan and Sarah and asking about their week off, she avoided an encounter with Kimber by ducking out into the hallway. She enjoyed the walk out to the library, though there was a steady flow of people on the trail through the Warded Woods. Other than a few waves or hurried greetings to students she knew, Cari's walk was peaceful. The library was abandoned, and after dropping her books by the librarian's desk, Cari settled into a cozy reading nook. As it turned out, the author of her favorite of the broomstick flight reference books had also written a book about Quidditch, and the library had it in stock.

Knowing that her time would probably be better spent in studying for her upcoming midterms, Cari still spent a wonderful couple of hours reading, curled up next to a floor lamp and surrounded by books. When she finally closed the book and stood, her spine popped several times, especially as she reached to put the book back. Reluctantly, she made her way back to the main Echowick building.

Somehow, Cari couldn't stop herself from slowing down as she approached her dorm. Despite how much she had missed her friends and roommate, Cari found the idea of so many people crammed into such a small space to be stifling after a week alone. As she slowly descended the staircase leading down to her dorm, Cari took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. She had been gone for a while. Hopefully, Lydia's mood had passed by now.

"Cari!" a voice cried, stopping her before she could enter the dorm. Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Cari turned to find Shadow, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Hey, do you have a second?"

"Of course," Cari said politely. When he remained silent, she asked, "How was your Thanksgiving?"

He groaned. "It was great, except that I feel like a horrible person!" Cari raised her eyebrows. "I swear, I had no idea that you were going to be stuck here over Thanksgiving break. Why didn't you say anything? I had to find out from Sarah twenty minutes ago!"

Cari shrugged. "It's not a big deal. It was actually kind of fun hanging out around here. Besides, what were you guys supposed to do about it?"

"I don't know, but we could have done something. At least sent you an owl message on the day of! And where have you been? We all thought you were mad at us!"

"I was in the library." Cari gave a little laugh at Shadow's still-nervous face and assured, "Not mad, I swear."

Shadow visibly relaxed. "Oh, okay. Good. Well, it'll be dinnertime soon; want to just head over to the cafeteria now?"

"Umm…" Cari trailed. There was really nothing she needed in the room and she _was_ starting to get hungry. "Sure, let's go."

"So, what did you do over your time off?" Shadow seemed determined to make polite conversation as they walked down the hall.

Cari started to tell him all about her flying lessons, but remembered Fleet's explanation of most magical kids having learning to fly when they were young. She didn't want to come off as stupid, or a charity case. She cleared her throat. "Nothing, really. I spent a lot of time reading, studying for midterms, stuff like that. There was a Quidditch match on Thanksgiving Day that they let me referee."

Shadow winced. "That must have been tricky, trying to follow the action from the ground. But I guess you probably sat up in the stands. Which section did you choose?"

Scoffing, Cari lied through her teeth. "The Physical Wing, of course! Have to cheer for the home team even when they're not playing. Anyway, since there weren't that many students out there, we just used the closer set of hoops and they gave me a pair of binoculars so I could watch everything." Cari grew uncomfortable. Not because she didn't like lying, but because the lie was so much easier than admitting her lack of experience with the magical world. "But how was your Thanksgiving?"

"Ugh, awful! So get this-" Shadow launched into a long and complex story about his great-aunt Ida and the cozies she knitted for wands, neatly allowing Cari to change the subject without his notice.

* * *

Since there were only two weeks between the end of Thanksgiving break and the beginning of midterms week, Fleet announced at dinner that classes would be set up a little differently for that period of time. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays would stay the same as they had always been, but Tuesday and Thursdays had been designated as 'individual study days'. For these study days, students could spend time in their dorm rooms, the library, or the cafeteria.

Word quickly went around the school that the cafeteria had been turned into a makeshift study area, complete with snacks, huge stacks of pillows, and soft classical music. Some of the professors milled around the area, willing to explain or clarify concepts for any students with questions. Though it quickly became the most popular place, packed with students each study day, the administration in the area made sure it stayed quiet enough for studying to actually happen. The professors that couldn't be found in the cafeteria were in their classrooms for most of the school hours on study days, available to work with students as well.

Cari, for the most part, studied in either the library or the cafeteria. She would have simply stayed in her dorm room, but Lydia, as it turned out, studied best to the frantic beat of a wizarding technopop band, Merlin's Minatory Robots. The Robots' music was intense at any volume, but Lydia favored turning it up to a bone-shaking level. Eric had complained more than once that the music was loud enough to disrupt his studying from across the hallway. Megan and Sarah - though fellow fans of the band - joined Cari on occasion. Tessa and Toby held a semi-permanent claim on one of the best spots in the library, and had set up their study space there. Cari joined them whenever she decided to study in the large, quiet room.. Though the librarian had forbidden them from having snacks, she turned a blind eye when they brought bottles of water for everyone, or got a bit noisier than was strictly necessary.

Shadow and Fletchmeister spent most of their time in the cafeteria. They both loved food, so the bowls of chips, pretzels, and popcorn were a big draw. Pure-Blooded Fletchmeister was completely fascinated by the stereo system used to play the music. As he explained to the confused Cari, the wizarding world had its own ways to project music over a large area, but the muggle version just sounded so much better. His opinion was backed up by the Muggle Studies professor, who maintained that the improved sound quality was the only reason the school let him play music on the stereo every year. Willa and Jael also studied in the cafeteria, but were much less impressed with the music than they were with the pillows. By Thursday of the second week, they had enlisted Cari's help in building a massive pillow fort while the professors turned a blind eye. With a creative use of sticking spells, their fort stood and they studied inside by wandlight.

No one had any clue where Chayton or Kimber spent their time, and honestly, no one wanted to know badly enough to ask.

For Cari, at least, all of the studying paid off. She was able to sit down and take her tests with a feeling of total assurance, even the one for her worst subject, Charms. By the time midterms ended, it was time for the students to return home for the winter holidays. Fortunately, Cari wasn't among those who were staying at Echowick this time, and after quickly packing all the necessities, she found herself in a car with her dad, driving home.

He had hugged her tightly in greeting, though it really hadn't been that long since they had seen each other last. Cari hadn't even been tempted to complain. "Of course, I had to tell your mother that I was picking you up from the airport. After all, you just flew from Canada. So, try to act like you've had a long day of flying." He narrowed his gaze at her before returning his attention to the road. "You still look too excited. Stop it. Look bored, look tired, look _harassed_."

Cari grinned. "I can't help it! I'm just so ready to be home at last! I've missed it so much."

"I know you say everything is fine, but…" Daniel trailed off, and Cari could see the worry lines forming on his forehead and between his eyebrows. "Cari, how are you really doing at Echowick?"

Deciding not to tell her father everything, Cari shrugged. "It's been a little rough, Dad. People can be hurtful, but the issues they have are their issues, not mine."

"I'm proud of you, honey. That's a very brave and mature way of looking at things. You're one tough kid, to stick it out." Cari blushed, but didn't say anything. Besides, they were already almost home.

When the car pulled up in front of her home, Cari's heart ached sharply at the familiar feeling of comfort and safety. Daniel smiled as they unbuckled their seatbelts. "Why don't you go ahead in? I'll get your bag."

Accepting the offer, Cari jogged up the steps to the porch and was met at the front door by her mother, who wrapped her immediately in a fierce hug. Byron joined in, the top of his head nearly reaching Cari's shoulder now. They stayed like that long enough for Daniel to walk in and hug all of them at once. It was the cheesiest thing Cari had ever been a part of, and yet she couldn't quite prevent a few tears from leaking down her cheeks.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know, I know, it's nearly Halloween and here I am, posting about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shame on me. But it does mean we're finally making progress and time will start moving along a lot more quickly for our heroine. Anyway, I would like to thank morganna12 for her very sweet review! If you have a second and would like to review, even to say you didn't like something, please do so. I promise, I'll love any feedback you have to offer. Well, I think that wraps it up for this week. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!


	16. The New Semester

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer_ \- I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any of the rights to the books, movies, or any related spinoff franchises (anyone else super pumped for _Fantastic Beasts_?). I'm just having fun with a few of the potential scenarios in the wizarding world with my own characters - for now.

* * *

The New Semester

Unfortunately, the winter holidays passed far too quickly. Christmas was amazing, a simple day spent relaxing at home with family. For New Year's, the Romanas had a small party. Naomi invited a few of her colleagues while Daniel simply invited his old security guard buddy, Pat. Byron even had a handful of friends over from school. Thinking longingly of her school friends, Cari just smiled, enjoying the party as best she could while avoiding countless questions about school and Canada in general. _I really could stand to do some research…_

As they finished the countdown into 2007, Cari was instantly depressed. Now there was nothing to look forward to and she would soon have to return to Echowick. She had always hated the beginning of the second semester, and that was back when she wasn't being constantly bullied. Perhaps that was the reason this departure was at least as difficult as the last one had been. Besides, things had changed so much just in the few months she had been gone. Byron had sprouted nearly two whole inches. She might not even recognize him when she came back again.

Cari hardly cried at all as she left her home for the second time in what was technically two years. She consoled herself with the fact that it wouldn't be long until March, when she would get to spend a whole week at home for spring break. Luckily, Cari's singular bag made move-in extremely easy. It took her a total of twenty minutes to get everything put away and she was free to go up to the first-year student lounge. There, she found her little group of friends, gathered and talking about their holidays.

"Cari!" "Hey, Romana!" "How was your Christmas?"

She smiled as the greetings were called across the room. Cari would always miss her family when she had to leave them, but the friends she had were a pretty excellent consolation prize.

* * *

Once classes started up again, Cari didn't have time to feel homesick. Rather than slow down, the teachers seemed to feel that the second semester was a chance to speed up the curriculum. In almost every class, the teachers were assigning huge, complicated projects and Cari resigned herself to having no free time whatsoever. Even Professor Ford managed to come up with a challenging Astronomy project, something Cari hadn't thought was possible for such an easy class.

And yet, despite the pressures of so much homework being heaped on her at once, Cari excelled in her classes. Well, except for Charms. She could perform the spells with no problems outside of class, but when she was sitting in front of Professor Garbin's glaring eyes, she just found it impossible to make anything work the way it was supposed to. Even Transfiguration was easier, and that definitely was not her favorite subject!

The situation with Professor Garbin took a steep nosedive toward the end of January. It had all started when she had failed to charm a lock open. She had used _Alohomora_ before and knew she could make the charm work, but the lock remained firmly shut despite her best efforts, as well as Lydia's attempts to quietly coach her through it.

Cari knew Professor Garbin wasn't her biggest fan, but she had never thought she would be standing next to her seat with a red face and tears pricking her eyes as he railed at her. "You have no talent with Charms! There's nothing else to be said! You're a terrible student, a subpar witch, and you do not belong at this school!"

Knees shaking, Cari lowered herself back into her seat as she swallowed back the sobs rising in her throat. Worst of all, she couldn't exactly refute the professor's claims. Maybe she didn't truly belong at Echowick. Hadn't her experience with bullies, blood-purists, and weak magic shown her that? But Professor Garbin wasn't finished. "Did I tell you that you could sit down? No! No, I did not. Another blatant display of disrespect, big surprise." He let out a breath and some of the violent color leeched from his face. "You know what? I'm done dealing with your disrespect, Romana. Go to Professor Fleet's office." Cari blinked at him and he shouted, "Now!"

She gathered her things as quickly as she could with her shot nerves, but the sound of a chair scraping back distracted the furious professor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the African-American boy who had amused her so much at the entrance exams standing next to his desk at the back of the classroom. Evidently, Garbin saw him, too. "What is it, Mr-?"

"Lionel Sharpe, sir." The name was said in a tired tone of voice and Cari dimly remembered him having had to introduce himself to the professor several times over the last semester.

"Well, Mr. Sharpe? Why are you standing?"

Lionel cleared his throat. "Sir, I have to ask why you are sending Cari to the office."

Professor Garbin's face immediately reclaimed all the color it had previously lost. "Why?" he thundered, gaining volume once again. "You are questioning my authority as a teacher to discipline my students when they act out in class? Where is your degree from?" He stared pointedly at the student. "Do you presume to know better than me in my own classroom?"

Lionel's calm voice cut through the professor's furious tones. "With all due respect, sir, I don't believe intelligence has anything to do with physical location." Garbin grew dangerously red and Lionel quickly added, "I am not questioning your authority, sir, merely asking why you feel Licaria was being disrespectful."

Garbin made a severe gesture of dismissal at him. "That is none of your concern." He began to turn around, but stopped when he saw Cari still at her desk. "Why aren't you gone yet? I told you to go to the Headmistress's office."

"Sir, I have to object. Please let Cari stay for the rest of the class."

"Sit down, Sharpe, unless you want to join her! I will handle defiance in my classroom however I see fit, regardless of your objections. You, Romana. Get out. Now!"

Ducking her head, Cari rushed out of the classroom. At least now, she wasn't fighting back the tears. They had been chased away by her shock at Lionel's defense of her. Why had he risked his own good standing with a professor over someone he hardly knew?

Cari walked slowly on the path through the forest, hoping desperately to stall. Unfortunately, it was still early in the class period, so she made it with more than half the time to spare. Waving at the librarian in a silent greeting, she walked over to the discreet wooden staircase tucked into the edge of the library, feeling the disturbed wards as soon as her foot hit the first step. Professor Fleet immediately appeared at the top of the stairs. "Miss Romana," she said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Looking down, Cari mumbled, "Professor Garbin sent me here." Fleet stared at her for a beat before weaving a complex pattern with her wand. Cari felt the wards loosen and then fall completely. Fleet beckoned her to climb the stairs, closing the door behind her with a sound of finality.

A few minutes later, she sat in the hard wooden chair before Fleet's desk, having briefly told her story to the Headmistress. Her eyes had watered a few times, but Cari had kept herself together for the most part. _I've never been sent to the office before. I wonder what the punishment for disrespect is going to be?_

Fleet leaned forward, steepling her fingers in front of her chin. "Miss Romana, Professor Garbin is your counselor, is he not?" Cari nodded. "And how do you find his advising to be?"

"Honestly, ma'am, I've been too afraid to talk to him. I don't think he likes me very much."

The Headmistress nodded. "That's what I thought." She leaned back in her chair. "Miss Romana, I have been debating with the idea of moving you out of Professor Garbin's counseling jurisdiction. Indeed, your home life is fairly complicated, is that correct?" Cari affirmed her statement, confused about the apparent subject change. "I believe that, under the circumstances, it would be best to simply have you be counseled by myself. I can charm the phone here in my office to give a Canadian telephone number corresponding to a very official school. This way, you may call home without fear of the number being traced back to Echowick. A girl needs to have contact with her mother, after all. Does that sound like an agreeable alternate circumstance?"

Exhausted by waiting for the other shoe to drop, Cari said, "Thank you for the kind offer, Professor Fleet, and I would love to take you up on it, but aren't you going to say anything about the reason Professor Garbin sent me here?"

"No, I don't believe I need to." Cari raised both eyebrows in an expression of confused shock and Fleet sighed. "Miss Romana, if the situation really did happen as you say it did, Professor Garbin did indeed behave in an overly reactive manner far exceeding what the situation called for. I cannot punish you for that." She fixed Cari with a steely gaze. "However, I cannot let you believe that this situation will be a model for how these things go in the future. Under normal circumstances, I would be asking you far more incisive questions and interrogating your classmates. The only thing preventing me from doing so is the fact that I've gotten several reports of Professor Garbin's behavior as of late from multiple sources, students and faculty members alike. Professor Kreer, in particular, expressed concern over Garbin's treatment of you, personally."

Cari gathered her nerve to ask the next question, "If he's such a problem, why don't you just fire him?"

"Miss Romana, I trust that you will keep it to yourself when I say that it just might come to that. I would like to remind you, however, that Professor Garbin, despite his quirks and flaws, is a good man as well as being one of the most talented Charms scholars in the world. Please do your best to treat him with the proper respect and I will endeavor to be sure he does the same." Fleet rose from her chair. "If you would like to join me, the lunch bell is about to ring, and it is a considerable distance from here to the cafeteria."

It took the Headmistress a few minutes to set the wards on the staircase again, so by the time they were leaving the Administrative Building, the lunch bell had rung. The pair had just exited the warded tree-line when they were confronted with several red-faced and panting students. As Professor Fleet and Cari were still blinking in startled silence, the group – made up of Lydia, Shadow, Eric, Jael, Chayton, Willa, Lionel, and even Kimber – began speaking.

"Professor! It wasn't Cari's fault!" "-Garbin's always had it in for her, ask anyone-" "-don't know what he was talking about, she wasn't being disrespectful-" "-you can't let her get in trouble because he can't hold his temper-" "He's notorious for being a blood-purist and he hates all of the half-bloods and Muggle-borns!" "Professor, let us tell you our side of the story-"

Professor Fleet held up a hand, halting the flood of cascading comments. The students cut themselves off mid-rant as she said calmly, "The issue has been resolved."

The group looked at Cari, who gave a short nod. They calmed and Fleet said, "I think it is time that Professor Garbin and I had a conversation."

Lionel, an uncharacteristically fierce gleam in his eye, asked, "Professor, is there any way I could be the one to deliver that message?"

Fleet fought back her own wicked grin and shook her head. "I think the less you particular students are involved with Professor Garbin, the better. You all had better go ahead to lunch. I've heard it's grilled cheese and tomato soup day and you won't want to miss that."

When they all entered the cafeteria, Lionel started to split off and go to the other end of the first-year table, but Shadow wasn't having it. "Come on! You have to sit with us, especially after everything you've done for Cari today."

Lionel agreed with some persuasion and after everyone had settled in and gotten their food, he said, "I don't mean to be rude, but you weren't even in our class." Cari looked over to find that the comment was directed at Chayton. "Why did you go along to speak with Professor Fleet?"

Chayton shrugged. "You know… I hate that guy. If I can get him in some trouble, it's a good day." Lionel didn't look convinced and the boy sighed. "Fine. When everyone told me what had happened, I couldn't just let that guy get away with it. He's a jerk and hates everyone who isn't a pure-blood. Cari doesn't deserve to be treated like that in the first place, and she especially doesn't deserve to get in trouble for his temper tantrum."

Lionel studied Chayton for a second and nodded. "Works for me."

Almost halfway through lunch, Fleet walked in, striding purposefully to the staff table, where she leaned in to speak quietly with Professor Garbin. When she turned and walked out of the room again, he stayed sitting in his seat, face ashen. Cari couldn't help but shrink down in her seat as he glared spitefully at her. To her right, Shadow leaned in, draping an arm around her shoulder.

On the other side of the table, Chayton loudly asked Kimber, "Yeah, that's right, you go hunting a lot with your father. Are you a good shot?"

Kimber, turning to Chayton, said conversationally, but just as loudly, "Oh, I'm an excellent shot. My family goes to the gun range at least once a week. My favorite is the long-distance rifle. I can hit a squirrel running through the trees from half a mile away when I'm using my best scope."

If she hadn't been specifically watching for his reaction, Cari would never have noticed Professor Garbin subtly looking away. Soon afterward, he left the cafeteria, being sure not to make eye contact with anyone, students or staff. Professors Tallet and Ford walked past the first-year table, talking as they left. "Yeah, Fleet walked right up and asked to see him privately in her office after classes end today." "Ouch. The last teacher she spoke to in private was Markson, right? Fired him on the spot…"

The last two classes of the day passed quickly, though the school was buzzing with the news of what had happened and that Professor Garbin might be fired soon. "Wow," Cari grumbled to Lydia as they walked to Survival. "I had no idea that the Echowick gossip mill was so intense."

"Well, to be fair, I'm the one who spread it around." Lydia looked only slightly embarrassed, even when Cari stared at her, horrified. "What? He's a bad person, and bad people get what they deserve. In this case, he deserved to have the whole school know he's on extremely thin ice. I don't regret it at all."

Groaning, Cari buried her face in her hands, hoping desperately that this wouldn't make Professor Garbin hate her even more. Fortunately, Mr. Kreer had heard the gossip as well and made sure it was an easy class, mostly review of the year's concepts so far. He even dismissed the class a little early, taking a moment to wink at Cari as she left the classroom. Remembering Fleet's warning about how today would have gone without his backup, she smiled gratefully back.

At dinner that night, Lionel joined them once again. To Cari's surprise, the boy who usually seemed so soft-spoken fit in with the group perfectly. When he wasn't in class, Lionel proved to be quick-witted and funny, with a talent for telling colorful stories. As it turned out, he lived next door to Jael and Willa in the Politics Wing, and knew pretty much everyone else from classes.

At the end of the meal, everyone split up to go back to their dorms. It had been a long day and they all decided that they could use some sleep. Cari caught Lionel before he could actually leave the cafeteria. "Hey, I never got the chance to say thank you. It means so much that you stood up to a teacher for me, especially when we don't really know each other. Thank you."

"It was my pleasure, Cari. Honestly, I just really hate when people abuse power. It doesn't matter who they are or what they do for a living; they're wrong and someone needs to stand up to them." He stared down at Cari curiously, "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't say something to him yourself. You don't seem like the type to just sit and deal with someone being unfair to you."

Horrified as she was by the reaction, Cari still began to cry. "I just couldn't! I was so ashamed I couldn't use the unlocking charm and it seemed like everything he said was true, and- and-"

Lionel cut her off with a tight hug. Cari stiffened for a moment, but relaxed when she admitted to herself that she had felt the need for a hug since she had been shouted at. "Garbin was wrong. Nothing he said was true. You're a fine witch and you _definitely_ belong at Echowick. You just had an off day. Don't let it get to you. Hopefully, nothing like this happens again, but if it does, you'll know exactly how to deal with it." Letting her go, Lionel smiled encouragingly as he brushed a tear from her cheek, chucked her under the chin, and wished her a good night.

* * *

Author's Note \- So, we've officially made it to 2007! The year of Rihanna's _Umbrella_ , BBC's _Torchwood_ , and, of course, the _Harry Potter and the_ _Order of the Phoenix_ movie. I sincerely hope some of you are old enough to remember at least one of those! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave any questions, comments, or concerns in the reviews, where I can respond. Thanks and have a Happy Halloween!


	17. Spring

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer -_ I know this comes as a shock, but I do not own _Harry Potter_ , since - hard as I try - I am still not J.K. Rowling. It disappoints me, too, but I'll keep trying.

* * *

Spring

For the most part, things were quiet at Echowick for Cari as the year moved on. Whatever Stephanie had done to keep people from messing with Cari had been very effective. She hadn't had any more incidents in the hallway, and when something did cause her to react badly, she employed some of the grounding techniques Mr. Kreer had taught her. The situation with Professor Garbin had greatly improved as well. Though he didn't hide his continued dislike for Cari, he seemed to do his best to ignore her, and for her part, Cari did her best to avoid drawing his attention.

In late January, the seventh-years started making plans, excited about the end of their time at Echowick. Students in their final year traditionally held a fundraiser to pay for a graduation party, and this year they had convinced Tallet to grow plants to be sold on Valentine's Day. All that was left was to choose the type of plant to be grown. Apparently, the upperclassmen had voted on the specifics, and the top three choices were Lovage, Valerian, or Moondew. When the seventh-year representatives brought it up to Tallet – who was already unhappy about their interruption of Cari's class period – the professor had refused flatly.

"You may pout all you wish, but there is no chance I am going to allow you to distribute any of those plants around the school, especially at this time of the year." The seventh-years looked as confused as the first-years did and Tallet sighed, pointedly staring at the older students. "This is why you two should never have dropped my class. Both Moondew and Valerian are staple ingredients in the Draught of Living Death and Lovage is used primarily to inflame the brain. Neither of these are desired reactions for students, especially at a time when emotions are already running high." She paced around the room, muttering quietly and counting on her fingers. "I'll plant moly. They fight against dark enchantments and if a student believes they are being cursed or someone's using a love potion against them, I'm sure Combes and Brunn would find it quite convenient to have the flowers readily available."

The seventh-year students glanced at each other, obviously trying to silently communicate. Tallet let them for only a minute before she said, with an air of finality, "Either I'll grow moly for you, or I won't grow anything at all. That is my first, last, and only offer." The seventh-years accepted, and on Valentine's Day, nothing pleased a student more than receiving a little black-stemmed white or blue flower, carefully potted in pink, red, or white terra-cotta pots and presented by a senior. Cari received none, nor did Lydia, but they consoled themselves with the knowledge that they hadn't sent any out, either.

At the end of the first week in March, students were released for spring break. Cari had told her mother that the Canadian school was going to let them out after half a day of classes and that the airport agent attached to the school – Fleet's idea – had booked her a flight immediately. With all of that information, Cari was expected to be home on Friday night. She was just relieved that she didn't have to stay an extra day at school just to make for a convincing story. Lying to Naomi was truly starting to bother Cari.

After a restorative week at home, Cari came back to Echowick ready to tackle the few remaining months of the school year. However, she returned to find a crying Lydia sitting on the floor, surrounded by the contents of her suitcase.

"Lydia!" Cari asked, rushing into their room. "Are you okay? What happened?"

When she calmed down, Lydia gasped out between hiccups, "They for- forgot about m- me!"

"Who?"

"My parents!" she wailed, tears starting to fall once again. "Th- they forgot that this w- was our spring break and they scheduled a vacation! I didn't see th- them all week. I was sitting in the house all alone! It w- was just me and the servants!"

Trying not to be distracted at the idea of her roommate being wealthy enough to have servants, Cari said soothingly, "Oh, Lydia. I'm sorry. I'm sure they'll try to make it up to you as soon as they can."

"No! Y- you don't understand!"

She didn't, not really, and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to, but Lydia seemed so miserable. "Tell me, then. Obviously, it's hurting you. Maybe it'll help to get it out in the open."

Lydia took a few deep breaths and the hiccupping slowed. "They always do this. They'll plan to do something w- with me and then they'll forget or decide it isn't important. Do you know that I've never been out in public with my m- mom and not been shopping? It's true. She and Dad just go places and do things without me and when I say I want to spend time with them, they just buy me stuff." Lydia blew her nose and looked miserably at Cari. "Stuff is nice, but it can't be a parent to you."

Shocked by the depth of Lydia's pain, Cari wrapped an arm around her roommate, squeezing her tightly. And here she had thought that Lydia was being rude when she was bragging about seeing her family at Thanksgiving! _She was just excited to actually spend time with her parents._ Feeling horrible, Cari said the only thing she could think of: "I'm so sorry, Lydia. I didn't know things with your parents were so bad. You deserve so much better."

Lydia shrugged, wiping the last of the tears from her face. "Hey, at least they don't beat me, right?" She gave a half-hearted smile. Cari didn't return it. Lydia looked away. "I guess I should be grateful. If they had paid attention, they probably would have spent more time decorating for holidays or my birthday and I never would have learned to do it by myself."

"Ohhh, so that's how you got so good at planning parties! I had wondered."

Nodding, Lydia gave a sad smile, this one returned by Cari. "Exactly. After so many awkwardly empty birthday parties, I realized that, if I wanted the party of my dreams, I would have to make it myself. And it worked, too. All my friends looked forward to my parties. One of their parents even asked me which party planner my parents had hired!"

Cari was glad to hear the slight note of pride in Lydia's voice. What she had always thought of as a little bit of bragging cockiness had really been confidence in her own, hard-won abilities. Trying to coax a true smile from her roommate, Cari said, "I'm only sad that we'll be out of school before my birthday."

Lydia regarded her with an odd light in her eye. "That doesn't mean anything…"

For a heart-stoppingly long moment, Cari wondered if cheering up Lydia had been worth putting herself in a potentially embarrassing situation, but as she watched Lydia pull out a notepad and begin working on a collection of lists and sketches, she knew it had been.

From the end of spring break until the short vacation for Easter, the professors informed them that classes would be focused on covering the final topics that would be on the end-of-year exams. As they covered these topics, the professors assigned enough homework to keep Cari's life a cycle of classes, essays, hurried meals, and not enough sleep.

During their hurried meals, Cari couldn't help but feel a glowing joy about Lionel's presence in the social group. He had fit in so well, becoming a true part of the circle in record time. And his popularity wasn't limited to them alone. It seemed that Lionel was both universally known and universally liked, a rare feat. And Lionel didn't just shrug off the attention; he often used his knowledge of the lives of Echowick students to help his friends.

One day, Cari, Fletchmeister, and Lionel had all arrived at dinner early and spent the time before everyone else arrived in amicable conversation. However, their exchange was cut off as they watched Pitt enter the room, stalk over to a first-year Arts student named Duncan Jones, and begin picking on him. Cari stepped forward, but Fletchmeister held her back. "Cari, don't you think he hates you enough already? Why give him more of a reason?"

"Why? Because he's picking on someone else! He can't be allowed to get away with that, especially not in the cafeteria in front of a bunch of teachers."

Lionel raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever met Jones?" Cari shook her head and he matched the movement. "Total waste of space. Don't bother." He cut her off when she began an angry retort. "I don't like Pitt, either, but Jones could stand to be taken down a few notches."

A short and wiry boy with ashy brown hair walked up to stand beside Pitt. He lounged comfortably, crossing his arms over his chest. He waited patiently until Pitt turned, and Cari could tell even from across the room that he was threatening the smaller boy. The brunet smiled coldly and said a short something that Cari couldn't hear at all, nor could she read his body language. All she knew was that Pitt, face pale, turned and left the cafeteria without another word to anyone.

"Did you see that?" Fletchmeister whispered to Cari, standing next to Lionel. "He said three words to the guy and he just stopped in his tracks."

Cari nodded fervently. "It was spooky. Who is that?"

Lionel made a disgusted sound. "His name is Iagan Kelly. He's a year ahead of us, in the Politics Wing. I hear he's supposed to be a future lawyer, but that's the only thing anyone knows about him. I don't like him. He's sketchy." Lionel paused as the brown-haired boy began walking in their direction and then hissed, "Don't trust anything he says!"

The boy moved as though he was going to walk past their small group, but paused and delivered a brilliant smile. Holding out a hand to Cari and then Fletchmeister, he introduced himself, "Hello, I am Iagan Kelly. Who might the two of you be?"

Fletchmeister stumbled over his words as he introduced himself, but Iagan took no notice. He bowed over Fletchmeister's hand, holding the younger boy's gaze with steel gray eyes. "That is an extremely elegant name, my friend. You must be of noble birth." Vertie opened his mouth, but made no sound.

He turned his face to Cari, who suddenly understood the awkward Vertie. It was disconcerting, being scrutinized so closely. Moving her gaze from his, she found that Iagan's hair, when he was standing so near to her, was ashy to the point of being a type of dark gray, maybe brought out by the color of his eyes. Gathering herself, she said, "I'm Licaria, Cari for short."

Iagan smiled, but it left his intense gaze unaffected. "Ah, Licaria. Named for the flowering plant, I assume? It is true that you are no less lovely than the flora whose name you bear. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Cari lifted an eyebrow and decided to be blunt with the strange boy. "Yeah. It's nice to meet you as well, but none of us are important enough to rate this level of flattery. I have to wonder if there's an ulterior motive."

The boy laughed. It was the first time a real expression had crossed his face and Cari relaxed. "So direct. I understand why you spend time in Lionel's company now. There is nothing I need, except the pleasure of your friendship." He turned to Lionel and inclined his head slightly, doing the same to Vertie, then Cari. "Sharpe. Fletchmeister. Romana."

Iagan turned to walk away, but Cari's soft laugh made him pause and look back. She smiled triumphantly at him. "You've given yourself away, Iagan Kelly. I never told you my last name."

Face innocent, he said, "Didn't you?"

"No, I didn't. Not a good start for any friendship. Have you been asking around about me?" He remained silent and she crossed her arms. "Ah. In that case, I don't know if friendship is a good idea."

The older boy gave her a smile that looked almost sad. "Everyone knows who you are, Licaria Romana, including those who aren't pleased you're here. Eventually, you might be happy to have a friend like me."

With that, Iagan disappeared. There was an awkward silence as Cari waited for her friends to tell her that she had nothing to worry about, but the assurance never came. Instead, Lionel scowled and said, "Do you see what I meant by being sketchy?"

When Easter came in early April, Professor Fleet announced that Echowick was having a four-day weekend to celebrate the holiday. "A temporary Floo Network will be set up in the cafeteria fireplace. I have already sent out notices to parents on the scheduling side of things and hopefully they will be in contact with you soon. They will need to finalize their plans with me."

As she had predicted, the feasibility aspect meant that Cari was stuck at Echowick for another holiday. But for a time, it seemed that she wouldn't be the only one to stay at the school. Lydia struggled for nearly two weeks before the holiday, trying to decide if she wanted to try seeing her parents or not. As she had told Cari, Lydia was leaning heavily toward staying at the school. Finally, a few days before the break, she walked into their dorm room beaming.

"My parents sent me an owl apologizing for missing my spring break! They said that they'll take me on another vacation if I want. Three days on a beach in the Bahamas!"

Cari tried to be happy for her roommate even as she resigned herself for another session of being alone at Echowick. She consoled herself that this break was only a long weekend rather than a week and half vacation. The next day at breakfast, Shadow took a seat across from her, looking oddly tense. It took a moment for him to break the silence.

"Hey, I heard about Lydia going to the Bahamas. What do you think about it?"

She shrugged. "If she can make up with her parents, it'll be a really good thing. I can't be too upset about something that would make her so happy."

Shadow laughed. "You're such a good friend, Romana." His blue gaze turned serious. "Cari," he said slowly, waiting to continue until she looked up at him. "Do you want me to stay here over Easter break? You know, so you're not alone?"

Cari stared at him, trying to gauge whether or not he was being serious. "You would do that? I mean, no. Thank you, but no. It was really great of you to offer, though."

Sitting in silence, Shadow's face grew shuttered. _Did he want to stay?_ Cari wondered. He smiled then. "Okay, I just wanted to check. Didn't want you to feel abandoned."

She returned his smile as they were joined by the rest of the group.

* * *

By noon on Friday, the students who were leaving had gone. Cari had sat in the cafeteria, saying goodbye and wishing her friends a happy Easter break as they disappeared one at a time through the fireplace. Of course, only sixth- and seventh-years were allowed to use the Floo Network alone. Everyone else had to be accompanied by adults, which was how Cari ended up meeting most of her friends' parents – except Lydia, who was picked up by a servant and rolled her eyes at Cari just before disappearing into the fireplace.

Echowick wasn't quite as empty as it had been over Thanksgiving break, but it was still a noticeable difference. With the year wrapping up and finals approaching, Cari split the long weekend between the library and studying in her dorm room. The professors had warned that the exams would include a practical portion. As someone who had heard multiple times that her magic was weak, Cari was close to panicking. "At this point," she muttered to herself, "I'll have to ace every written section they have and hope that'll be enough to let me pass."

By the end of the weekend, she felt like she at least had gotten a head start on studying for finals. Early Monday morning, one of the other students came to find her, telling her that she was needed in the library. She was curious, especially since anyone who would have needed her was still at home with their families. No students were expected to be back until the Floo reopened at noon.

When Cari walked in, the librarian directed her to a sitting area in the back of the room. There, she found a huge soda, a large chocolate bunny, and a bouquet of flowers in an elegant vase. "Happy Easter, sweetie!"

Cari whipped around and hugged her dad fiercely. "Dad! Happy Easter to you, too! You didn't have to do this."

Daniel waved her off. "Of course I did! I'm just sorry that I didn't get to come and see you yesterday. Your mother knows that I always have off on Easter Sunday and I couldn't get away without her getting suspicious."

"Don't worry, Dad. I was studying all day yesterday anyway."

"Yeah, how are your classes going?"

That sparked a conversation about school. After that topic was exhausted, they moved on to Daniel catching Cari up on everything that was going on at home. She learned that Naomi had been asked to add another class for the fall semester as demand was rising and Byron had been made the student of the month for his class. As they spoke, Professor Fleet made her way down the stairs, likely on the way to supervise the Floo being set up in the cafeteria.

"Hello, Mr. Romana, Miss Romana. And how are you both today?" They exchanged polite pleasantries, comfortably shallow until Fleet said, "And Daniel, I must congratulate you. Your daughter has quite the talent for flight. She must have some excellent genes inherited from her parents to go along with her incredible work ethic."

It was an amazingly high compliment coming from the difficult-to-please Professor Fleet, but it wasn't received as one. Cari stiffened and looked down at the table as Daniel's head whipped from the Headmistress to his daughter. "Cari? Ah, yes. She's such a talented little… child."

Sensing the awkwardness, Fleet smiled hesitantly, made her excuses, and quickly retreated from the library. "What was she talking about?" Daniel hissed as soon as Fleet was out of earshot.

Cari shrugged. "It's not a big deal, Dad. I was bored over Thanksgiving break and I thought it would be nice if I learned how to fly a broomstick."

Sighing irritably, Daniel scowled. "Licaria! I've been trying to get you to stay out of the wizarding world as much as possible, not fly deeper into it! Why would you do such a reckless thing?"

"Maybe because I was sad and lonely? This was my first Thanksgiving away from you guys and I didn't even have my friends here for company. I needed something to take my mind off of being stuck here and flying did the trick. Could you try to be happy for me?"

"This is going to cause far more problems than it solves, Cari!"

"How?" Cari burst. "Just because I don't want to run from everything having to do with magic? Maybe I don't want to live in the Muggle world for the rest of my life and lie to everyone around me!"

Daniel sat for a moment, face stunned. "Well… thank you for informing me. I'll just head home and lie to my Muggle family." He gathered his things and left the library before Cari could figure out if she had truly meant what she had said.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know this was a crappy place to end the chapter, but it seemed like a good idea at the time... I also know that this is an odd time to post a chapter. The unusually observant among you will notice that I normally post on Mondays and Thursdays if I'm going to post two chapters in one week, but here we are. In fact, this is a special day to me and I'm celebrating by posting another chapter. Also, on an awkwardly serious note, I'm going to keep posting this story. I have over 50 chapters of this written and will post the whole thing as well as new chapters when they are ready. All of that being said, it would mean a lot if you would drop me a review and let me know what's working for you, what isn't... anything at all, really. I'm focused on the story, not the responses, but I am missing the feedback I've come to expect from FanFiction readers. In short, not vying for attention or trying a cheap ploy to get reviews! I just wanted to let you guys know how much I treasure each and every review. Thanks for reading that whole spiel and have a great day!


	18. The End

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer_ \- I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials. J.K. Rowling owns the world this story takes place in, and as such, there are elements in my writing which would be inseparable from her ownership. In this way, she can probably be said to own this story. Not that she'd want it, but still.

***Warning: This chapter contains material which is a little intense. You've been warned.

* * *

The End

Cari had been in a foul mood all week, ever since her father's abrupt departure from the library. She barely spoke to anyone, but when she did open her mouth, nothing good came out. Not even the prospect of the Physical Wing's most highly-anticipated Quidditch game of the year – their match against the Politics Wing – could lift her spirits. Still, she agreed to go, partially because she wanted to, and partially to make it up to the friends she had been so horrible to lately.

Decked out in black and silver, they made the familiar walk up to the Quidditch pitch. It was strangely silent, not only on the walk but also when they got to the section of grounds just outside the arena. The problem soon became apparent: Everyone was crowded around the Politics Wing hoops, staring up at the tallest one and muttering quietly amongst themselves. The group of first-years curiously joined the crowd, listening intently at first, but elbowing each other and pointing as they all figured out exactly what the problem was.

Professor Garbin dangled from the tallest hoop, the rope around his neck digging into the corded muscle and reddened, bloating skin of his jaw. The professor struggled violently, eyes bulging from his face, which alternately became a reddish-purple before fading to a blue-tinged white and back again. He was making horrible noises, gasping and choking as much as he was able with the garrote cutting off his windpipe and vocal cords.

Cari looked around frantically, unable to believe that the crowd was simply standing around, looking on as the teacher slowly thrashed. Fleet zoomed out from the broom shed, moving faster than Cari had ever seen her fly and quickly used her wand to cut the rope. Garbin's descent was slowed by someone on the ground and the form finished its gentle descent, setting softly in front of the spot where Professor Garbin stood. The professor stowed his wand in a pocket as he looked down at what Cari now realized must be a dummy, bewitched to look like the teacher.

"Who did this?" Professor Garbin demanded, spittle spraying in his fury.

"I bet it was Romana," someone muttered. The voices sounded like Gethen, one of Pitt's closest friends. Cari craned her neck to see if he was standing next to her enemy, but didn't see the red-haired bully anywhere. It was no matter; it would seem that she had bigger problems at the moment.

"Are you serious?" she demanded, looking around at the crowd. "How would I have done this? I just got here and I've been in my room all morning!"

Garbin toed the frayed end of the rope. "By the look of this, it's been hanging here for a few days, at least. Miss Romana, weren't you here over Easter break?"

Cari glared at him, as well as the members of the crowd who began to mutter suspiciously. Fleet's strident voice carried over the grassy ground as she approached. "Answer his question, Miss Romana."

"Yes, I was." The murmuring intensified and Cari could see the faces of some students beginning to turn against her. "But that doesn't mean I did it!"

"And how many people can say that they were with you that entire weekend? Romana, there is absolutely no proof that you're innocent." Garbin seemed unpleasantly triumphant, as though he were rubbing in an undeniable truth.

"And there's no proof that I'm guilty!" The argument was threatening to degenerate, but Professor Fleet's voice cut through the heated discussion.

"Professor Garbin, Miss Romana, I need for the two of you to accompany me to my office right away. As for the rest of you students, please return to the main campus. The match between the Politics and Physical Wings will be moved to next Saturday." With no further comments, Fleet turned and walked off the field. Garbin followed her and Cari brought up the rear numbly with Pitt staring triumphantly after them.

Her friends followed, but Cari was in too much shock to talk. Instead, they walked in a group gathered around her, offering words of comfort even as they glared ahead at Professor Garbin. "Don't worry, Cari. They can't possibly get you in trouble if there's no proof you did it," Lydia said softly.

"Yeah, there's a reason the phrase is 'innocent until proven guilty'. They can't prove anything because you didn't do anything wrong. Any of us would vouch for your character." Shadow rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Though if you had done it, no one would blame you."

"Yeah, and it was some pretty cool magic."

Kimber glared. "Chayton, Fletch, neither of you are helping. Romana, don't sweat it. You're an upstanding student with a completely clean track record. There's no reason for them to take Garbin seriously, especially with all the trouble he's been in over the past year. Relax."

Shocked that the girl actually seemed to be on her side, Cari could only nod mutely. Fleet was waiting by the edge of the warded forest, having already sent Garbin ahead. When they reached her, she said quietly, "I'm sorry, students. I need for Cari to come to my office by herself and for the rest of you to return to the main campus. I'm not even letting students in the library right now."

Fleet drew back slightly and Lionel moved in, gripping Cari's shoulders tightly. "Cari, now is the time for you to stand up for yourself. They aren't going to let anybody else do it. Good luck." He kissed her on the cheek. When he walked away, Shadow hugged her tightly followed closely by Lydia, who did the same. Whispering final advice and well-wishes, they left and Cari followed Fleet to her office.

When they were all in the small, elegantly-decorated room, Fleet picked up the telephone from her desk and pressed two buttons. "Hello, this is the Headmistress. I need one of the guards to come to my office… Yes, the wards are down, you may Apparate directly into the room."

A second later, there was a loud _pop!_ and Cari's father stood in the room. He stared questioningly at Cari, but bowed his head to Professors Fleet and Garbin. "Headmistress, Professor. How are you both today?"

"Somewhat concerned, Mr. Romana-"

"Romana?" Garbin interrupted. "No, no, no. Surely it would be considered nepotism to allow a relative to offer testimony."

"Testimony?" Daniel thundered, wearing an incredulous expression. "What is going on here?"

Fleet sighed and briefly summarized the situation for Cari's dad. He pulled the radio from where it hung off his belt. "Pat, please come to the Headmistress' office right away." The radio buzzed and Daniel held it slightly away as he asked, "Are the wards still down?" Fleet nodded and Daniel copied the gesture as he spoke into the radio once more. "Yeah, you're good. Bring the log books."

Another _pop!_ announced Pat's arrival. "Hey, Cari!" he greeted enthusiastically. "And Headmistress Fleet, lovely as always. Garbin." Pat was a soothing presence in the room, despite the large black binder he held in one hand.

After thanking Pat for the compliment, Fleet said, "We were wondering if the wards on the Quidditch pitch were disturbed at all over the long weekend?"

Pat opened the binder, flipping toward the back and running his finger down the last page. "Uhhh… Yeah. The wards were disturbed just after six on Monday morning."

"Thank you, Pat. You may now return to your post." Pat nodded once and disappeared.

Garbin looked triumphant. "There, you see? Romana snuck out of her dorm, hung up that disgusting mannequin – thus disturbing the wards – and returned to her dorm room by the time the student brought her the message to meet her father in the library. She has no alibi, no one who can vouch that she was in her room. I don't think I have to explain what that means."

Daniel scoffed. "Yeah, it means that Echowick was nearly empty and that one of many students who didn't have a roommate for that time is being accused of doing something she has no history of being capable. Unless you are going to accuse every student whose roommate was gone over the weekend, you don't have much of a case."

"On the contrary; I have plenty of reasons your daughter would want to do such a thing. All of the reasons point to her being the only likely culprit."

Crossing his arms, Daniel settled into his seat with an expectant look on his face. Fleet beckoned Cari over to sit next to the Headmistress' desk.

"Licaria Romana and I had a disagreement several months ago. Ever since, she and her friends have been belligerent both in class and out of it, as well as spreading nasty rumors about the likelihood of my continued employment with the school. She has plenty of reason to dislike me and to publicly state her hatred before the entire school."

"Wait," Daniel said, "If we assume that's a viable reason – which it isn't – you still have the problem of feasibility. Cari doesn't have a broom, so she would have had to break into the broom shed for this to be remotely possible."

Garbin's eyes glittered triumphantly. "Ah, but she did have the skills. Professor Fleet taught her to fly over Thanksgiving break, and bragged to much of the staff that she became very accomplished over the course of the week. Headmistress, did you not tell me yourself that Miss Romana perfectly executed an _Alohomora_ charm on the broom shed?"

Cari turned, wide-eyed, to Fleet. The Headmistress, for her part, looked just as shocked. "I- I do not recall saying such a thing, Professor Garbin."

"Ah, but you did. When Miss Romana and I had our issues in January, they were over her lack of ability to charm a lock open. In our private meeting afterward, you claimed that she is well able to perform the charm, and you had witnessed her doing so several months before. With that, we know for a certainty that Licaria Romana is capable of charming the lock from the broom shed and has indeed done so before. Why is it beyond the realm of possibility that she would do so again; this time, without the Headmistress present to stop her from completing her plan?"

Daniel shot Cari a quick glare, but continued to defend her. "Even if all of that is true, Cari has never shown herself to be capable of any behavior such as the kind you are describing. It simply isn't in her character."

Garbin scoffed. "'In her character'? Is it 'in her character' to get in semi-regular fights? Mr. Romana, let me be the apparent first to inform you that your daughter has shown signs of being in multiple physical confrontations. Once, she was even found bruised and bleeding on the floor of a hallway! Maybe, due to your shock, you may not be the best judge of your daughter's current character and of what she is capable."

There was no answer to that from anyone in the office and Garbin went on, now directing his comments to Professor Fleet. "I move that Licaria Romana be immediately expelled from Echowick Institute."

Blinking rapidly, Fleet stammered, "I- I think that reaction might be a little more than is called for at the moment…"

"It isn't too strong a response. Surely you have read the expulsion files? Imholz Kolesov was expelled in 1893 for breaking into the broom shed, distributing brooms, and setting up a race _through_ the forest. He was only lucky that none of the students were hurt or the school would have had to press legal charges. In 1958, Jansen Turner was expelled for stealing seeds from several Council-controlled plants. In 1992-"

"I get the point, Professor Garbin, but this case is slightly different-"

"You're right, it is. Instead of a student making one extremely poor choice, this is a student who has made multiple mistakes and yet has had no real rebuke from the school authorities. Any student who shows this advanced level of insubordination, disrespect, and- and- homicidal tendencies should be expelled immediately!" The professor's agitated breaths were the only noise in the room until he calmed down enough to go on. When he continued, Garbin's expression conveyed a depth of condescension, aimed toward Professor Fleet. "I realize that you are relatively new to the office of Headmistress, but surely you know it is part of your duty to stand by the decisions of past Echowick Heads. Failure to do as they would have done may be cause for the Council to re-evaluate your current position as Head of this school."

The Headmistress in question bristled. In a tight voice, she asked dangerously, "Is that a threat, Professor Garbin?" The red-faced man looked slightly taken aback by the turn in conversation and Fleet continued. "I will not allow my actions to be dictated by anyone, Professor or Council. But I do agree that this situation needs to be taken seriously. With that aim in mind, I would ask you two gentlemen to leave me alone with Miss Romana for a few minutes."

Cari's father and Professor Garbin rose and retreated from the room. Fleet settled back in her seat next to Cari, fixing the first-year with an intense gaze. "Cari, I don't believe that you were the one to hang the effigy of Professor Garbin. That being said, his 'evidence', while inconclusive, is convincing enough to land you in a lot of trouble. Maybe even enough trouble for you to be expelled from Echowick. I need to know right now: do you have an alibi that you may have felt for some reason unable to share in front of your father?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Fleet. I really don't have an alibi. I went to bed late on Easter night and slept until about nine on Monday. I had just gotten dressed when I was told to come to the library. No one saw me."

Fleet sighed. "That's what I was afraid of." She stood and began pacing slowly. "I will fight to keep you from being expelled, but I need to tell you right now that the situation does not look promising."

Rising from her seat as well, Cari stopped the Headmistress. "No, Professor Fleet. I can't ask you to risk your job." Meeting Fleet's incredulous look with a shrug, she smiled sadly. "I mean, I would love to stay, especially with less than a month left of my first year. But you see, I kind of figured that something like this was going to happen eventually. You can't live somewhere that everyone hates you without someone putting a stop to it eventually. It was just bad luck that I don't have a way to fight this one. But there's no sense in you having to leave, too."

Fleet patted Cari's shoulder awkwardly. "Miss Romana, even if there's nothing I can do for you and you end up leaving today, I want you to remember that you're not a charity case. You never were. You have every right to live and belong in this world."

There was a knock at the door. Fleet called, "Yes?"

Daniel popped his head in, a confused expression scrunching his eyebrows slightly. "There seems to be a development in the case."

Wearing her own puzzled expression, Fleet waved the men back into her office. To Cari's surprise, the librarian walked in behind them. "Mrs. Helen," Fleet said slowly. "Do you have some insight in this matter?"

"First, let me ask: Did you tell all of the students that they were to remain at the main campus and not come to the library?" Fleet nodded. "Ah. Well, I found this taped to the front door of the Administrative Building." She held up a small paper envelope with a plastic window in the front. Through the clear section, Cari could see that the envelope contained a disk. "It is addressed to you, Headmistress Fleet, pertaining to 'the charges unfairly brought against Miss Licaria Romana."

Fleet's long strides quickly ate up the distance between where she stood and the librarian at the door. She plucked the offered disk from the librarian's hand and began to study it. "Fascinating. It appears to be a standard DVD disk. And you didn't see anyone approach or walk away from the building?" Mrs. Helen indicated that she hadn't. "Well, there's only one thing to do," Fleet mused, walking over to her desk. After a moment's hesitation, she popped in the disk.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know, a cliffhanger, I suck. On the other hand, that means that - despite the name of this chapter - this is not the end of _Adventures At Echowick_. Not yet, at least. Also, I just want to take a second to recognize that _Adventures_ is getting ready to be the longest story I've ever submitted on this site as far as wordcount is concerned! That's so exciting to me! Maybe even exciting enough to post that last chapter a little earlier than next Monday... Thanks again for reading and have a great day, everyone!


	19. Saying Goodbye

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer -_ Normally, I write something pithy here about how I don't own _Harry Potter_ , but if you are at all interested in this story (and hopefully you are), you'll be eager to get to the chapter. (I still don't own it, incidentally.)

* * *

Saying Goodbye  


Everyone gathered around Fleet's desk, peering at her computer screen. A grainy, black-and-white image flickered up after a moment. Small white letters in the corner of the screen read, 'Echowick Security Camera: Quidditch Pitch'.

"You put up security cameras?" Daniel asked in surprise.

"No," Fleet said slowly, concerned gaze still fixed on the video.

There was movement on the empty Quidditch pitch. A hooded figure was creeping stealthily onto the field, visible in the light of the slowly lightening sky. It efficiently retrieved a broom from the shed and flew up to the tallest hoop, towing a man-shaped burden behind him. The small group watched in silhouette as the figure hung up the enchanted dummy, which immediately began to writhe.

"You see?" Cari couldn't help but point out. "There's no way that's me! That person is way taller than I am!"

"There are spells…" Garbin muttered darkly.

The shadowy figure touched down and began walking toward the broom shed again. Cari had a moment of panic, realizing that the person in question had yet to show their face. The camera abruptly let out a loud, obnoxious-sounding beep and the figure turned around to stare suspiciously behind him. The video paused, the picture zooming in to a tight focus on the culprit's face. A square appeared around it, pulling the face to a top corner of the screen. The other three corners filled with pictures of Pitt, one a posed yearbook photo while the others appeared to be candid pictures, judging by his distracted appearance. White letters appeared over the collection of pictures: 'Suspect Identity: Pittrellean Geikas. Match to Identifying Photographs: 100%'.

Before anyone else had truly processed what was going on, Fleet had sent out a message that Pitt was to be sent to her office immediately. When the boy arrived, he was followed into the room by a tall, red-haired woman. "Mrs. Geikas, I wasn't aware that you were visiting our campus today," Professor Fleet said coolly.

The woman inclined her head slightly. "From what I understand, I arrived just before you decreed that the school go on lock-down." She largely ignored Fleet's protests of the term 'lock-down'. "-Though I suppose I understand the need to do so with such a horrid thing happening this morning. In any case, why did you need to see my son?"

Fleet turned, using every inch of her considerable height to tower over Pitt, who had sat down while his mother spoke to the headmistress. "Mr. Geikas, I understand you may have some information for me about the issues on the Quidditch pitch this morning?"

Pitt glanced from her to Cari, a malicious glint in his eyes when he looked back at the headmistress. "Well, I know that Romana over there is the most likely culprit. It really is a shame she felt she had to commit such a heinous crime. After all, Professor Garbin is easily the most accomplished and best-liked teacher at Echowick."

Still seated in the corner, Professor Garbin preened slightly and Cari shot him a look of disbelief. _We all know Pitt is guilty! How can he be falling for this?_ Fleet cleared her throat, keeping her serious expression in place. "Be that as it may, some new evidence has come to light."

The headmistress walked over to her desk and smoothly turned her screen around. The different pictures of Pitt still covered the screen, along with the words proclaiming he was a hundred-percent match to the person who had hung up the Garbin figure. Pitt stuttered out a token denial, but his mother obviously wasn't having it. Whipping around, she stood in front of her son with fists resting on her slender hips.

"Pittrellean Linos Geikas! Did you do what they are accusing you of?" He opened his mouth and she made a threatening gesture. "Do not bother to deny it! They have your face right there on that screen. Why did you do this thing?"

Pitt's shoulders slumped. "Okay, I admit it: I did it because I didn't think we were going to win the Quidditch game." Everyone in the office stared at him. "I'm sorry. I was just hoping that it would either throw the Physical Wing off their game or postpone it until the team had a chance to practice some more."

Mrs. Geikas slapped a hand on the arm of her chair as she stood. "Well, there you have it. This was not an act of violence or malevolence. Instead, it was just an attempt – however misguided – to prove his school spirit and love for sports."

Professor Fleet sent her an incredulous stare. She shook her head and addressed Cari and Daniel. "It would appear that you both are free to go." Daniel shook Fleet's hand and they both turned to walk down the stairs.

"You know, Cari," he said conversationally, "We really need to have a conversation about disclosure of information. Why is today the first I had heard about all of this?"

"I didn't want you to worry." Daniel scoffed and she protested. "I'm serious! You were already nervous about me going to school here. If I had told you that I was being bullied or that I was having a disagreement with a teacher, it would have made you freak out, maybe even think about pulling me out of school here. Can you really blame me?"

"Maybe not, but we'll be taking the long way home on your last day of school. That way, we have time for a nice conversation." Cari nodded, knowing there was no way to put off her worried father. _Not that it would kill me to talk to him more_...

Outside of the Administrative Building, Daniel hugged Cari goodbye and Apparated back to the security building while Cari walked back to the main campus. She found everyone just where she had thought she would, the Physical Wing first-year student lounge. Cari stood for a moment, biting back the tears that unexpectedly filled her eyes. _How have I gotten so lucky? To have all of these people who care about me in a place that I had expected to be filled with only hatred?_ She sniffed, fighting for control before her friends saw her tears and thought she was insane.

"Cari!" Lydia was the first one to see her, running up to envelop her in a hug. "We were so worried! What happened?"

Cari explained to the suddenly silent room what had happened and the reactions were varied. "They were going to expel you? For a bunch of things that could realistically be coincidences?" Lionel was furious.

Shadow wasn't far behind. "So they were going to expel you, but when they found it was Geikas who did it, everything's suddenly fine? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"Hang on. Fleet said that the security cameras weren't put up by her, right?" Apparently, Kimber speaking to Cari wasn't going to be a one-time deal after all. "And your dad didn't know anything about them? Then whose cameras are they? Who else would install security cameras?"

Cari lifted one shoulder. "I didn't really ask, to be honest. I mean, whoever they are kept me from being expelled, so I really owe them a 'thank you' rather than a bunch of questions."

After agreeing that it was weird and that they were glad Cari was absolved, the group's conversation turned to other topics, leaving Cari to be privately thankful to still be at Echowick. There had been a very good chance that she would be packing her bags by now.

* * *

The next weekend – despite their extra week of practice time – the Physical Wing soundly beat the Politics Wing in their match. Cari had never cheered so loudly in her life. The next Monday in school started their two weeks of individual study days before finals started up. Everything was the same as it had been last time, except that the librarian allowed Cari and her friends to bring in beverages and snacks. On one of the days, she had pulled Cari aside and confided, "You know, I think you should have been issued a formal apology after that mess after Easter. There's no reason Pitt should have gotten away without so much as a detention while your reputation took a hit."

Cari thanked the librarian for her kind words, but Fleet had actually apologized later that day. _"I am so sorry, Cari. I would have liked to get him in trouble, maybe even expelled, but with his parents having the power that they do, it would be nearly impossible. I don't like to share my private troubles with students, but I'm in a rather precarious situation myself. This is only my fourth year as Headmistress, and I've gone against a lot of the implied traditions from Echowick's history. I'm already one 'bad judgment' from being dislodged." Cari understood and told the woman that, but Fleet added, "I did tell Pitt that if you had any trouble with him, or I heard any non-stellar reports of interactions between the two of you, that he would answer to me for it. I expect you to keep me in the loop on how things go with you. If he so much as looks at you in a threatening way-"_

 _"I understand, Professor Fleet, and thank you. I know you could be risking a lot just by doing as much as you did."_

 _Fleet had shaken her head. "Don't thank me, Miss Romana. I wanted to do more. I should be able to do more. The traditions of this office are getting in the way of its duties, and that is never an acceptable way to run things…" She trailed off, eyes distant, but seemed to shake herself. "That isn't truly your concern, however. Just don't thank me."_

In any case, studying went well, especially after the marathon session she had done over the Easter holiday, but Cari was still terrified for the upcoming finals. "Even if I ace all of the written parts, I'm still looking at getting barely a C."

Lydia was unsympathetic. "Boo hoo. As for the rest of us, we would be lucky to get a C in any of our classes." Cari grimaced. Lydia would only listen to her self-pity for so long before even she got frustrated. They both went back to studying their various books.

A couple of stress-filled weeks later, finals were finished. Cari was fairly certain that she had done well on the written portion of the test, but to her surprise, she had passed the practical parts as well. Some of the classes, like Astronomy, had simple tests, based on finding a star or planet in the night sky, or locating a particular constellation on a map. Herbology was especially easy. Professor Tallet had given them the seeds for some magical plant nearly a month and a half ago. A specialist came in, looked over the plants, and simply assigned a grade based on how well the plant was growing and the techniques used to pot it. Cari hadn't even had to show up for that one.

As for the other classes, the practicals were a little more involved, sometimes performing spells and other times showing their understanding of magical theory. Perhaps Cari's relatively good scores were due to the hard work she had put into the spellwork, but more likely it was the outside proctors they had brought to help test the students. They had warned that tests would be stricter starting in their second year, but for now, they were more than happy to hand out pointers on better ways to perform the spells this time around.

After their finals, there was only one week left of school. In that week, the students attended one more day of classes – mostly to receive their final grades for each class – before they underwent another Placement test, this one used to figure out to which career the students were best suited. It was simple compared to the finals; they just had to go to the Administrative Building, where the library was set up as it had been on the day of Cari's first Placement Test. The students sat at tables in alphabetical order and answered roughly two hours' worth of questions about activities they preferred and abilities they possessed. Sitting at a table with Toby, Kimber, and Lionel - exactly the same setup as the test they had taken less than a year before - Cari had a lot more fun than she had ever thought she would during a test in which one wasn't allowed to talk. As it turned out, they all had quite the variety of facial expressions.

At the end of the test, Fleet announced that the results would be mailed out over the summer. "For the rest of the week, you may focus on packing up your dorm rooms and returning any school materials you may have in your possession. Thursday night, we will hold a graduation ceremony on the Quidditch pitch. Of course, you are all invited to attend. Please remember all that your Wing leaders have done for you over the semester and at least take a moment to thank them. On Friday morning, you will be free to leave the school with a parent or guardian. If you need to use the Floo, please have your guardian contact me with a time and who will be coming to accompany you."

With that final statement, they were free to go and do what they pleased, wrapping up their first year at Echowick in whatever way they thought was best. For Cari and her group, that was to visit every first-year student lounge, take an impromptu trip to see a meteor shower from the Astronomy tower, and have a picnic lunch on the Quidditch pitch. Fleet even gave them permission to borrow the school brooms to play their own game. As it turned out, Cari was terrible as a Keeper, but she had never had more fun.

On Thursday morning, Lydia brought Cari to the student lounge for a surprise birthday party. Cari had actually known about it – Lydia was never the most subtle of people – but she acted shocked to please her friends. They did all of the stereotypical birthday party things Cari and her family had always done: cake, balloons, and party games. It felt strange to be doing these things without her family around, but Cari admitted to the small, selfish part of herself that it was nice to have more than one or two friends who cared that it was her birthday.

Cari was sure to thank Lydia for her efforts as they began dismantling their room. Lydia graciously accepted them with a simple admittance of, "It was actually really fun." Most of the extras in their room, the paintings, lamps, rugs, calendars, and such – had been packed away by the time Cari and Lydia walked up to the Quidditch pitch for the graduation.

A small stage was the only real change that the area had seen, along with the chairs set out in front of it. Some seats were marked as reserved for families of the graduating students, but there were still plenty open. Cari and Lydia sat in the front of the student section, and cheered obnoxiously when Stephanie walked across the stage, purple hair bright against her black and silver robes. Both wings cheered when the first thing she did was grab Keith, the Political Wing Leader, by the front of his robes and kiss him firmly.

Stephanie came up after the ceremony to hug both girls and thank them for coming. She also ducked her head to look Cari in the eyes. "You stand up for yourself, okay? People know you're a force to be reckoned with, but sometimes you'll have to remind them. You're gonna do great!" Someone called her over and Stephanie walked away after saying one last farewell.

There were almost no seventh-years at dinner that night, as they were free to leave as soon as the graduation ceremony ended. Everyone else made up for their absence with an abundance of noise, mostly from discussions about when everyone was going to be leaving the next day. Eventually, the topic switched to summer plans.

"…and anyway, my dad promised we would go explore the rain forest this summer. It'll be fun, but we'll have to practically do things like Muggles, since there's no Floo anywhere around the area we want to go. There aren't really wizarding places there, actually. It'll just be the two of us trying to survive in the wild for a few weeks. Sounds fun, right?"

Lydia's face was horrified. "Uh, no! You're supposed to relax on vacations. You know, go to the tropics and spend a week on the beach sipping cold drinks and working on a tan?"

Eric's face was almost as horrified as Lydia's had been. "That sounds awful! Do people actually volunteer for that?"

Laughing, Chayton said, "Actually, people pay a lot of money to go places like that. Though they're usually rich anyway…"

Rolling her eyes, Lydia asked, "Kimber, what are you doing for your summer vacation?"

"My family always goes to a private, wizard-owned island for a week in the summer." Lydia nodded, excited to have something in common with someone, but the look faded as Kimber continued. "Since they know about magic, we can do things that we wouldn't be able to otherwise. Skydive from over the upper height limits, scuba without coming up to replace our air supply, cliff-dive in the shallow areas with charms to keep from hurting ourselves… It's always a pretty good time."

Lydia nodded weakly as nearly everyone expressed their jealousy over Kimber's planned summer. Cari smiled into her glass of soda. It seemed that Lydia was just beginning to understand her role as the only resident girly girl.

The next day, it was surprisingly hard for Cari to say goodbye to her new friends. Professor Fleet had gathered all of the students for an end-of-year assembly in the cafeteria, thanking them for their hard work over the past year and wishing them a happy and safe summer. The teachers had all gathered as well and many of the students chose to walk around and thank them personally. Cari skipped a few – Garbin, for one – but made a point of visiting a few. Mr. Kreer was one of them.

She shook his hand heartily. "Sir, I can't even begin to thank you for everything this year. You're the only reason I'm still at Echowick."

Kreer solemnly shook her hand, but ruined the effect with a wink. "Not the only reason, I'm sure. Don't be saying your goodbyes yet, kid. You've still got at least one more year in my class no matter what." Cari smiled and wished him a good summer before leaving.

Some of the students were using the Floo to leave Echowick directly from the cafeteria, but others were lugging their belongings to the parking lot in front of the administrative building. Cari belonged to the second group, joined by Shadow, Chayton, Jael, and Tessa. Just before they walked into the Warded Woods, someone bumped into Cari.

"Oh, excuse me. I wasn't watching. Are you okay?" Cari found herself looking up at Iagan.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine."

Strangely, he fell into step beside her, earning a few sidelong glances from Cari's group. "Have any plans for the summer?"

Cari shrugged. "You know, relax, spend time with family, the usual. You?"

Iagan smiled and nodded. "Good," he said, ignoring her reciprocating question. "Staying out of trouble, it sounds like. Can't always count on security cameras being around." He quickened his pace, walking ahead of her.

"Hey," she called. "How did you know about that?" The details of why the case against her had been dismissed were supposed to be completely confidential. Fleet had promised that everyone would know Cari was innocent, but thought it best not to reveal the existence of security cameras. Cari agreed, especially since the cameras in question had been fully turned over to the school administration in a note at the end of the video disk.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I know everything." Grinning, he turned and walked through the wards, disappearing from sight briefly.

"What was that all about?" Tessa asked when Cari rejoined them.

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know. Every time I think I've figured this school out, something else happens."

Shadow ruffled her hair. "Welcome to Echowick."

* * *

Author's Note \- Well, maybe not the goodbye you were expecting, but Cari did say goodbye to a few things throughout the chapter - plus it marks some important things for us as well! First off, this chapter officially makes _Adventures At Echowick_ the longest story I've ever published through this site! That might not be as exciting for you as for me, but we've also reached the end of Cari's first year. Thanks for those of you who have stuck around this long! On that note, thanks to HarryPotterFanHermione, whose reviews never fail to make me smile and encourage me to dedicate more time to writing. One last thing before I finally stop with this note: I decided that I want to get a good chunk of this story posted before the end of the year. The posting schedule will stay at its now-typical two chapters a week, uploaded on Mondays and Thursdays. Right now, I've planned two weeks between now and Christmas with only one chapter, but the rest will have multiples. Don't worry guys! We really are getting places, just stay patient! Thanks again for reading and - as always - have a wonderful day!


	20. Summer

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer_ \- I do not own _Harry Potter_ , the credit for which goes solely to the inimitable J.K. Rowling. I own the original elements of this story, though the actual extent of said ownership could probably be debated.

* * *

Summer

Cari's summer passed – as most summers do – both incredibly quickly and unbelievably slowly. It was amazing how much she had missed being around her family every day and the time spent with them was bliss, but there were also some less pleasant times. Naomi was forever asking questions about Cari's school experiences. Cari always found something to tell her, purposefully answering as briefly and vaguely as possible, but she could see that Naomi's finely-honed instincts were sensing something off. This led to questioning sessions that grew more and more intense, and Cari didn't know how long she would be able to stand the pressure.

About a week after Cari's twelfth birthday, she finally lost her temper with her mother. "Will you please stop asking me about it?!"

"Honey, why are you getting so upset? I just asked what your classes are like."

"Mom, all we've talked about since I got home is school! Can I just relax and spend some time not thinking about it?"

Naomi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Cari, are you happy there? Because if you aren't, we can move you to another school or even back here. I'm sure you would fit right back in…"

"I never fit in here in the first place! I didn't have any friends."

"And how about your new school? Do you have friends there?"

"Stop psycho-analyzing me!" Naomi's gaze was firm and even. After a few long moments of the scrutiny, Cari gave in and sighed. "Yes, Mom. I have a whole group of friends. Lydia is my roommate, Kimber lives in our dorm, Jael is a girl who is in a few of my classes, Shadow lives across the hall-"

Naomi's gaze sharpened. "Ah, yes. You've mentioned Shadow before. Is there something going on with him, Cari? Is that why you've been so upset lately?"

"Maybe I just miss them, Mom!" Cari collapsed onto the sofa. "I hate this," she admitted miserably. "When I'm at school, I miss being home. When I'm home, I miss being at school. I'm never happy where I am and it's frustrating."

Sitting gently on the couch, Cari's mother smiled at her. "Well, I think I can help with that." She rested a hand on Cari's knee. "Licaria, home will always be here. You don't have to worry about missing things or being left behind. And nothing is going on at your school right now. It's completely closed down. For the rest of the summer, at least, focus on being home and enjoying home. For my part," a wry look passed over Naomi's face, "I'll try to stop asking so many questions. And when school does start up again, focus on it, enjoy it as you remember that we will always be here."

Cari pondered this advice for a while. It seemed solid enough. Sitting up, she grabbed her mother in a tight hug. "Thanks, Mom. That does help."

Naomi patted Cari's back. "You're welcome, sweetie. Maybe this weekend, you and I can spend the day together. You know, go out for lunch, see a movie, go shopping? Looks like you're outgrowing your clothes and shoes. Maybe we'll even need to go shopping for new bras before too much longer!"

"Mom!" Cari cried, pressing hands to her burning face.

"Sorry, sorry," Naomi laughed. "I need to go get ready for class. Are we good?"

"We're good. And thanks again."

"You're welcome." She stood, surveying Cari for another long moment. "Stop growing up so quickly, okay?"

Cari rolled her eyes and turned on the television. In her eyes, she was growing up far too slowly to waste time talking about.

* * *

The rest of the summer went by gloriously as Cari took her mother's advice and truly lived her life at home. She spent the days swimming and hiking and the nights playing cards and watching movies, all with her family. Byron was a little more mature than he had been when she left the first time, but was still ultimately a kid, playing games and drawing pictures with the wild imagination of a child. His new obsession was castles. He would spend hours at a time drawing them, but always complained that they weren't 'turning out right'. Cari, cursed with a fatal lack of drawing abilities, preferred to join him in the game-playing parts of his day rather than the artistic ones.

Her one tie to the wizarding world was the occasional owl sent to her by Lydia. Since Cari could only send or receive owls on Thursdays – and carefully time it so that Byron didn't see anything – the conversations progressed remarkably slowly, but she hung on every word her roommate wrote. Cari carefully avoided any mention of Lydia's parents and her roommate did the same. It seemed that an understanding had been reached, and neither asked or volunteered information about home lives. Instead, the letters focused mostly on what they were doing over the break, what they hoped their placement test results would be, and any gossip Lydia happened to overhear about what their friends might be doing. It was no surprise that, with Lydia's impressive chain of gossiping friends and relations, they learned about nearly everything anyone else was doing and discussed it thoroughly.

A large chunk of the summer passed this way, but eventually, Byron pulled Cari aside when Naomi was away teaching her class. "Cari, do you want me to order your books and things early like I did last year? I have to put in the order soon if we want your stuff to come with the first shipment."

"Thanks, Dad, but no. The results of my placement test should be in soon and then I'll have more books to get. I'd rather just order them all at once if that's okay. Less hassle."

"Sounds good to me. But, hey, let me know as soon as you hear about your results. I'm interested to know which program they're putting you into."

Cari let out a sigh that sounded frustrated, even to her. "So am I, Dad. Trust me, you'll know something as soon as I do."

Unfortunately, it was nearly the end of June before Cari received an owl. Impatiently, she ripped open the envelope stamped with the Echowick seal and scanned through the letter. If she had no objections, for her second year, Cari would be placed in Broomsmith classes as she had an unusually high 92% match for the skills of a Broomsmith. She stared at the page. Broomsmith? Like a blacksmith?

In his usual, oddly perfectly-timed way, Daniel walked into the kitchen. "Hey, kiddo. What do you have there?" She waved the envelope at him, watching his eyes track the seal on the front of the envelope. "Oh, your results? What do they have you in?"

"Broomsmithing. Broomsmithery? I don't know. Whichever one." At his continued silence, she asked apprehensively, "Is that a bad thing?"

Daniel hurriedly shook his head. "No, of course not! It's not where I would have thought, but I had never figured you for a Physical Wing student, either."

"Really? Where would you have put me?"

"I don't know for sure. Probably Academics," he said with a shrug.

Interesting as that possibility was, there were more pressing matters at hand. "So what does a broomsmith do?"

Daniel sat down next to her. "Well, broomsmiths generally make brooms." Cari's dry stare made him chuckle. "They do. It's a job field that not many people go into. Of course, demand is low, since families usually have only a broom or two and they make those last for years. A lot of the companies with better reputations build brooms for Quidditch or Quodpot teams, but those are the 'dream jobs' and you find most of those in the UK." He studied his daughter for a moment. "I don't know, kiddo. It's a tough field, a little dangerous at times, but it has to be your choice. Does it seem like something you'd be interested in, or do you want me to see about scheduling a re-test?"

Cari thought back. Learning to fly was one of the highlights of her year, if not her life. Though she had no particular skill with Quidditch as a sport, she had thoroughly enjoyed learning the history of broomstick flight. _Would I want to spend the rest of my life making and testing brooms for families and Quidditch teams? Yes. Even if it meant moving to the United Kingdom? Especially yes._ "I think I'll stay in these classes for now."

Nodding, Daniel picked up the other slip of paper that had fallen out of the envelope. "What is this one for?"

Cari pulled it from his hand, studying it herself. "Uh… I guess I'm invited to try out for the Physical Wing Quidditch Team."

"Are you going to go?"

With a look that suggested her father had lost his mind, Cari scoffed. "No way. Did I not tell you about how terrible I am at it? Why would I volunteer to play in front of my entire school?"

He laughed. "I thought you were being over-dramatic, but I guess not. Still, it was nice of them to invite you. Are you sure you don't want to go? We could figure out a way to get to the school without your mom or brother knowing."

Cari pondered it for a moment. It would be nice to see her friends, but how many of them would really be there? "Nah. Thanks, but I think I'll just stay around here for now."

Daniel shrugged and ruffled his daughter's hair. "Suit yourself, kid. For what it's worth, I think you would make an excellent Quidditch player."

* * *

By the middle of July, Cari had gotten her textbooks for the year's classes. All of them seemed interesting, but she paid special attention to Charms. She wasn't going to give Professor Garbin any extra reasons to hate her this year. Unfortunately, all of the classes seemed like they were going to be more difficult this year, especially Herbology. They were moving more into the magical plant sections and some of the specifications for keeping them plants healthy seemed as though they would be both difficult and time-consuming. Of course, the textbook for her Broomsmith classes were fascinating, though she already knew most of the history it contained. She had a new kit for Survival as well, and it contained some items she had never seen before. _Kreer is definitely going to have a lot of teaching to do for the second-years!_

Of course, she knew enough this year to split her time more equally between learning and spending time with her family. She would spend a day studying about Potions and then one shopping with Naomi. She would read through her Transfiguration textbook and draw castles with Byron. Some serious time with Charms and then a drive with Daniel. Focusing on the balance, Cari felt as though her summer was a lot more fulfilling.

The days flew by this way, and soon it was time to start packing for the return to school, though it was interesting to compare it to her last packing experience. Having learned a lot from her first year, Cari packed a little differently, adding fewer books and 'nice' outfits, instead replacing them with comfortable jeans and extra notebooks. In shopping with Naomi, Cari had found that she really was growing taller and starting to fill out. Not enough to be immediately noticeable, but enough that some of her clothes didn't quite hang the way they were supposed to anymore.

Leaving was easier this time around as well. There were no tears, though Naomi and Cari both got a little dewy-eyed at a few points. Naomi brushed a strand of Cari's frizzy waves behind her ear as she said, "I'll see you soon, honey. Try not to grow too much while I'm not there to see it, okay?" Cari scoffed, but hugged her mother tightly.

She stooped to hug Byron as well. "Bye, Cari," he said in his high baby voice – though it was a little less squeaky than she remembered it being last time around. "I drew you a picture. You can take a castle with you, okay?"

Cari smilingly accepted the drawing. "He's been working on it for the past week," Naomi confided as Cari studied it. It was one of his better pictures. The castle was white, the large blocks of its walls outlined in thick black crayon marks. It had less towers and spires than she had pictured castles having when she was Byron's age, but it made it all the more realistic. Cari gave her brother another hug, called her last goodbyes, and joined Daniel out at the car.

"So," Daniel began as he started the car. Cari settled in for what she knew was going to be a long conversation. "Crazy that it's already been a year since the last time we did this, huh?" Cari slowly agreed. "You've made it through a year at Echowick and are going back. I'm proud and everything, but I need you to promise that you're going to do things a little bit differently this time around."

Cari thought back over everything that had happened in her first year at Echowick. "I see what you mean, but I think I did pretty well with what I had."

"What you had? Well, I guess you did, but you forgot one important thing you have." Cari raised an eyebrow at her father, who pretended to be hurt by her confusion. "Me! You forget that you're not all alone in there. I'm your father, Licaria. I'm there to back you up when things get tough. Maybe this year, you'll tell me about bullying or teachers not liking you before everything explodes in our faces. Does that sound like something you could live with?"

Fighting a smile, Cari agreed. "Though I need you to admit that some of the things that happened last year would have sounded pretty incredible if I had come to you right off the bat. I mean, the bullying, you warned me about, but if I had said, 'Dad, there's a teacher who doesn't like me', that's not something you could do anything about."

Daniel looked unconvinced. "Maybe that's something you could let me decide. It was a bit of a shock to be in the Headmistress' office hearing all of these things about you that I had never known." He cast a sidelong glance in her direction. "I couldn't help but notice that, for someone so against lying, you've been keeping some big pieces of information from me."

"That's different! I didn't lie; I just didn't tell you about some things because I didn't want you to worry for no good reason."

The half-smile Daniel had been wearing dropped abruptly. "That's the tricky part about life, Cari," he warned, a wistful tone in his voice. "You always start out thinking you're doing the right thing. It isn't until you're in too deep that you realize you may have made a mistake."

Cari's heart ached for her father. For all of her nagging about his lies to her mother, Cari had never wanted him to feel the kind of regret that he seemed to be going through. Suddenly desperate to lighten the mood, she said, "Hey, since you were so ready to give me a hard time about not joining the Quidditch team, I have to ask: did you play when you were at Echowick?"

"No. I was always one to keep my feet firmly on the ground, in more ways than one." With a loud snort, he added, "Besides, I was always in trouble for running off and exploring the forest. I would have been a liability to the team."

"You got in trouble? You?"

Daniel laughed heartily. "You'd better believe it!" He regaled her with exuberant stories of his time at Echowick and the startlingly large number of times he had been in detention. They never returned to the depressing former topic, and Cari was too relieved about it to worry much about the manipulation she had just accomplished.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, real talk: That was a short chapter. Like, really short, almost half the length of the chapters I'm currently writing. I'm sorry, there are no excuses, but there will be another chapter posted on Thursday, so at least that's a thing. Thanks for reading, please consider leaving a review if you feel so inclined, and have a wonderful rest of the day!


	21. Back At Echowick

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer -_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials/writings. I own a few elements of this particular story, but as for the series as a whole, I am but a humble fan. More's the pity.

* * *

Back At Echowick

Though Daniel didn't slow the car dramatically and Cari heard no angelic chorus, her return to Echowick still felt momentous. She had spent a year here, a year in which the school and all its occupants had done their best to convince her to leave and never return. Now here she was, coming back, ready to face another year and fight for her place in wizarding society. When Cari got out of the car, she stood a little taller, especially as she saw all of the nervous-looking first-year students stumbling around, trying to find their places in the Wings.

Cari had been moved to Building 2, Dorm D, Room 2 of the Physical Wing. Fortunately, Lydia was still her roommate, so it appeared that the only thing to have changed was the building number she was in. She shouldered her bag easily and picked up one of the cardboard boxes she had brought. "Dad, do you mind grabbing that second box?" Daniel did so and followed his daughter, smiling softly at her growing independence as he walked.

To Cari's surprise, she didn't run into any of her friends on the way to Physical dorm. She recognized some of the faces, but wasn't familiar enough with anyone to say hello. Walking up the stairs and around the exterior hall was wonderfully familiar, though it felt odd not to be stopping at the same old apartment door. She had already gotten the key out of the envelope and attached it to a key ring, so unlocking the door was a much smoother process than it had been the year before. However, Cari had barely stepped inside the apartment when the door to Lydia and Cari's room slammed shut with a slightly-muffled squeal.

"Lydia?" she called. "It's just Cari and her dad. Is everything okay?"

"The room isn't ready yet!" Lydia exclaimed. "I'm almost done. Just… wait out there for a few minutes!"

Cari turned to Daniel, who still stood in the hallway. She shrugged and walked back through the doorway, setting her box and bag outside. Daniel followed suit, looking amused as he asked, "What was all of that about?"

She explained and Daniel laughed. "She really is something else." His expression grew more serious as he said, "I hate to do this to you, Cari, but there were a few forms I was going to fill out at the guard office while I'm here…"

"Go ahead, Dad." He still seemed hesitant, so she gave a broad smile. "Really, Dad, I'll be fine." He gave her a hug, kissed her on the forehead, and left. Alone in the hall, Cari sat against the wall and watched her neighbors move in down the hall.

"Hey, look. It's Romana," a voice announced, followed by another voice saying, "Yeah it is. What's up, Romana?"

Cari found Eric and Chayton walking down the stairs for this section of hallway, both toting a large amount of stuff. "Hey, guys. How were your summer vacations?" Without waiting for an answer, she moved on. "Why do you have so much stuff? Chayton, did they finally let you change to the Physical Wing?"

Chayton scoffed while Eric reddened slightly. "No, and I don't want to anymore. Long story. Anyway, all of this stuff is Eric's. I was just sick of watching him try to lug it across campus, so here we are. The question you should be asking is: What is he bringing to school that needs so many bags to be carried?"

The red of Eric's face darkened by several shades as he muttered, "My mom. She's going crazy or something… Why are you sitting in the hallway? That's a much more interesting question."

Cari turned back to Chayton with an eyebrow raised and he smirked. "His mommy sent him stuff to decorate his room since he was obviously pining away for home last year."

As though she was summoned by the word 'decorate', Lydia pulled open the door to Cari's apartment. "It's reeaaaadddyyy!" she sang out.

"Finally," Cari commented as she climbed to her feet and dusted off the seat of her jeans. "Want to help me carry my-" She trailed off as she realized that her roommate had disappeared back into the apartment. "Okay, then."

"Ouch," came Chayton's less-than-sympathetic response. With a smirk, he sighed, "It's too bad I'm already helping mama's boy over here or I would give you a hand with that."

Cari slung her bag over her shoulder as she said, "You know, Chayton, it's a good thing you aren't moving into this Wing, because I'm pretty sure I would beat you senseless before school even started."

"Ooh, scary," he jeered. He and Eric stood watching as she lifted one box and kicked the lighter one – filled with Survival gear – into the door and down the hallway a good bit before following it inside the apartment. "Then again, maybe actually a bit scary." Though she didn't respond to his snarkiness, Cari got a savage joy from slamming the door as hard as possible with her foot.

Slowly and bumping into the walls of the hallway, Cari retrieved the box she had kicked and nudged it over to the doorway of her room. "Lydia! The door is shut and my arms are full-"

The door swung open as Lydia announced, "Tah-dah!" Heavy bag and boxes were put completely out of Cari's mind as she studied Lydia's newest masterpiece.

The walls were painted a subtle eggshell color, as were the columns that stretched upward in each corner of the room. Delicate golden patterns traced their way in strategic spots, edging a wall, or converging to form a small picture. Lydia's white string lights from first-year dangled all around the ceiling of the room. On Lydia's wall, a large canvas picture of a city took up most of the empty space while Cari's wall featured a full-length mirror. The matching bedspreads had small black patterns on them, breaking up the creamy blankness and the rug between the beds was a rich red, presenting a bold splash of color in the otherwise neutral room.

Cari stepped closer and found that the patterns on the bedspreads were tiny Colosseums. As she moved, the lighter box moved with her, making an odd noise on the floor. She looked down, startled to find that the simple wooden floors from the year before had been replaced with rough-looking stones. "What the-"

"They're cobblestones, silly! They're all over the place in Rome."

"That's nice, but how did you do this? And are you even allowed to paint the rooms?"

Lydia waved her hand carelessly. "The school doesn't care what you do, as long as you can reverse it at the end of the year. Do you like it? My mother showed me how to do most of it."

Though she had a thousand other questions for her roommate, Cari caught the importance of Lydia's last statement and latched onto it. "Oh, how are things with your mother?"

Lydia beamed. "They're amazing! After I got the results of my placement test, we've been spending a ton of time together. She's the one who took me to get most of this stuff."

Cari waited for her to go on, but Lydia didn't seem to get the hint. "… And? What were the results?"

"Oh! I'm supposed to be taking classes to be an Event Specialist."

"That- they put you in the Physical Wing for Event Specialist?"

"Yep. I mean, there's a lot of skill involved. You have to survey the area, make sure it's level, then cast the spells and everything. If you notice," she squatted down and stroked the floor, "This looks like cobblestone and some things react like they're on stones – like your box did – but it will feel to you just like the hard wood floor underneath. Neat, huh?"

"Definitely, but it sounds pretty complicated. Are you happy with being an Event Specialist?" Lydia nodded vigorously. "Okay, good. Congratulations!"

"What field do they have you going into?"

"Broomsmithery."

"Oh." Cari watched as Lydia cast around for something positive to say. "Is that a word?"

Cari laughed. "I have no idea, but that's what I'm going with. Anyway, it seems interesting enough, so I'm giving it a shot."

"Good. I hope you like it!" There was a moment of awkward silence. "Hey! Speaking of interesting things, wat to see something cool?" Cari nodded agreeably and Lydia bounded to the heavy chest at the foot of her bed and, standing carefully off to one side, flipped the top open. The chest grew steadily until it was a wardrobe, standing taller than Lydia, with one door propped open. "Amazing, right?" the beaming Lydia burst out.

Impressed, Cari walked as far around the new wardrobe as she could without actually stepping on Lydia's bed. She reached out and rapped on the wood with her knuckles. "Yep," Lydia said proudly. "It's solid mahogany. Isn't it great? I finally have a place to keep my clothes so that they won't get those horrible fold lines in them!"

"How did you even figure this out?" Cari asked, still studying their new piece of furniture.

"I was complaining to my mother that we don't get closets here and she said she would teach me how to do this! But wait, you haven't even seen the best part yet." Lydia carefully pushed the open door back into place and the wardrobe rapidly shrunk back down to the standard, familiar chest.

Cari walked back to her bed, beginning to pull things out of her bags. "When did you do it?"

"Just before you got here. Do you want me to charm yours as well?"

She started to refuse out of reflex, but stopped. Wouldn't it be nice to have a little extra storage space? "Yeah. I mean, if it's no trouble, that would be great." As Cari watched Lydia search through her things to retrieve her wand, she slowly said, "Can I ask something about the room?"

Lydia straightened and looked back at Cari, alarm on her face. "What's wrong? Do you not like the decorations? I chose the beach theme last year without you, so I thought we could do something for you this year. It isn't too late to do something different, if you'd rather…"

"No, no! I think the room is really cool, it's just- Why Rome?"

"Cari. Seriously? Your last name is Romana. Rome-ana. It means 'of Rome'. Merlin, learn your family history!" Touched by the gesture, Cari was on the middle of thanking Lydia when the piercing wail of a siren floated through the open window. They both grimaced.

Carefully, Cari said, ""You know, I didn't mind the beach scene last year. The window doesn't have to be set to a city if we don't like the noises."

Lydia looked apologetic. "Sorry, it's the only one that fits the Italy theme. It would drive me crazy if our window didn't match. It's like, what's the point?"

Cari stared through the window, thinking as she watched the magically-simulated heavy traffic pass by. "They have beaches in Italy."

Lydia studied her for a minute before shrugging. "Sold."

Within a minute, they were listening to the soothing waves washing up on their beach. "Ahhh… Much better."

The front door opened and Kimber paused in their doorway a moment later, wearing a stuffed backpack and carrying a large olive-green duffel bag. "Hey, guys." She glanced around the room. "Nice job, Lydia. Looks great! I have to go unpack, but you want to head to dinner in a bit?" They both nodded and she smiled. "Cool. See you in a few."

When Kimber was safely in her room, Cari turned to Lydia in amazement. "What is happening here? I thought Kimber hated both of us? Or at least me."

"Nah, she mellowed out a lot toward the end of last year. But that isn't the real question. Did you see her boobs?"

Cari blushed, but admitted, "Yeah, I did. She looks like she's a fourth-year or something!"

She and Lydia turned toward the mirror, sighing. At the same time, they slid hands down their sides and began bemoaning their mutual lack of curves. "At least you're pretty!" Cari told her roommate. "You don't have to worry about this gigantic Italian nose taking over your entire face!"

"Oh, please," Lydia groaned, "You have those big, gorgeous eyes. Every guy falls for those eyes. I'd kill for that!"

"Both of you stop that right now!" a voice chided. Cari whipped around, but the room was empty, as was the hall outside.

"Don't worry," Lydia said reassuringly. "It's just the mirror. We couldn't find one that wasn't enchanted."

"You are both lovely young ladies. Stop primping and go do something useful!"

Lydia snorted. "That last one was all my father. I think he told it to say that line in particular since that's what he tells me sometimes. Let's go see if Kimber is ready to go to dinner yet."

They were at dinner a little early, as it turned out. Fleet had hardly finished her speech to the first-years when Cari, Lydia, and Kimber settled down at the table. Tessa walked in minutes later with a boy Cari didn't recognize. It wasn't until they sat across the table that she realized the unfamiliar boy was Toby. Trying to keep from openly gaping, she studied him.

Puberty had hit him like a truck, but only in the very best of ways. He had always been the smallest of the group, easy to underestimate, especially with his bright blond hair. Now, he was several inches taller and his shoulders were widening at a rapid rate. His hair was multiple shades darker, closer to Tessa's light brown than his previous platinum. Tessa had grown an inch or so, but it was much less impressive compared to Toby's extreme changes. Slowly, the rest of the group showed up, and Cari thoroughly enjoyed watching all of them do double-takes when they realized who the 'new boy' really was.

As she waited for Professor Fleet's pre-dinner speech to begin, Cari spent her time studying the changes in her friends. Willa had grown an inch or two and seemed like she might have become – impossibly – even more beautiful. Jael had chopped her hair off in a playful and flattering style. Eric had a tan going on, which was quite the feat with skin as naturally pale as his. Lionel had apparently hit a growth spurt that was only overshadowed by Toby's. Fletchmeister's hair was trimmed neatly short, which somehow managed to draw attention to how gangly he was getting.

Shadow walked up, sitting down next to Toby. His hair was longer, starting to wave a little at the ends, but he seemed otherwise unchanged. This was strangely comforting to Cari, who had honestly been expecting him to have changed completely. A sense of familiarity washed over her as his blue eyes warmed into their friendliest expression and he turned to Toby. "Hi, I'm Shadow. Sorry, I didn't catch your… Toby?!"

The entire table laughed, even students who weren't in their group. From the teasing comments and chuckles, one would never have guessed that some of the other students sitting around had been just as confused about Toby's identity. To his credit, Shadow took the mockery fairly well, smiling and joking good-naturedly. Before the topic of conversation could move on to something else, Chayton burst into the room and rushed over to the table.

"Did you tell them yet?" Chayton was slightly out of breath, his mussed hair and reddened cheeks making it obvious he had run to get to the table on time.

Rolling his eyes, Shadow muttered, "No. I figured you would want to, you arrogant-"

"Good call, man," Chayton cheerfully interrupted. "I finally found out why I was placed in the Arts Wing." The group murmured interestedly and he puffed out his chest. "I show great promise for becoming an Advanced Potion Specialist… Maybe even a Potions Master someday, Fleet said. That's pretty hardcore, huh?"

Cari noted with amusement that, though Chayton was speaking to the group as a whole, his gaze remained locked on Kimber. The girl wasn't looking at him and was instead scrolling disinterestedly through the contents of her phone. Chayton looked slightly deflated until she lifted her eyes and spoke to him directly, holding out her phone. "Oh, you want to talk about hardcore?"

Chayton leaned far closer than was strictly necessary to look at a phone, but Kimber didn't move back, instead tapping the device's screen. Chayton moved his hand to ward off the glare as he furrowed his brow. "What is th- Is that you?!" Kimber nodded, looking proud and Chayton shook his head admiringly. "You couldn't pay me enough to go bungee jumping, I don't care how safe the muggles say it is."

Shrugging, Kimber tucked her phone into her back pocket. "It wasn't the first time I've gone, but it was the highest jumping point I've done so far. It was amazing!"

Cari stared at the girl, amazed. This was easily the first time she had ever seen Kimber look anything except coolly bored. Shadow cleared his throat. "So, Kimber, what career do they have you going into?"

Rather than push the girl back to her jaded self, the question made Kimber's eyes gleam with excitement. "Apparently, I have all of the traits and abilities to become a fully-qualified Dragon-Tamer."

The group grew quiet. It was a risky career, but one that was incredibly cool. Before anyone could ask questions or start volunteering where they had been placed, Fleet stood and began to speak. She covered pretty much the same topics she had during the year before, just general information about Echowick and the expectations held by the school. Cari had to laugh when the Headmistress said, "The school will be offering an instructive course on broomstick flight later in the fall. There will be a sign-up sheet in the library. If any student has never flown a broomstick and has any interest, I would urge you to attempt it. One never knows when or where one may discover a new passion." She looked over at Cari as she added, "It should be noted that any attempts to fly without faculty supervision will result in an immediate termination of flight allowances and punishment up to and including expulsion from the school."

Cari's broad grin disappeared when Shadow tapped her shoulder. "Cari, maybe you should take that class! I mean, you've never flown before." When she glanced back at him, Shadow wheedled, "Come on, I'll even take it with you. Like Fleet said, you might love flying!"

Lydia leaned over. "Ooh, count me in! Flying is fun, even if it does mess up your hair. Come on, Cari; say you'll take the class."

"Will you guys shut up?" Fletchmeister hissed. "The teachers keep looking over at us!"

That put a halt to the conversation as Professor Fleet finished her speech. Fortunately, when she had finished, food was enough of a distraction to last until someone asked Tessa which career path she had been placed on. "Healing," she said, looking skeptical. "I don't know, doesn't really seem like my kind of thing… Though I did hear some of the pictures of wizards in the anatomy books are smokin'!" She waggled her eyebrows as Toby began choking next to her. She whacked him on the back. Toby coughed a little bit and the color began to fade from his face. "For Merlin's sake, a future Scholar should know which pipe is for eating and which one is for breathing!"

"Well, your bedside manner is spot-on," Lionel remarked dryly, ignoring the face Tessa made in his direction.

"And what are you going to be doing, Lionel?" Shadow asked.

"I'm supposed to be a lawyer."

"Ugh, the enemy!" Eric joked.

With an evil smile, Lionel retorted, "You think so? Ask Fletch over there what he's going to be doing."

Fletchmeister let out a loud groan. "Don't remind me! I'm going to be a …" His voice dropped to a low mumble and after a few moments of asking what he had said, he admitted, "I'm going to be a teacher, okay? A teacher!" Fletch groaned again, dropping his head against the table in exhausted defeat, though there was a moment of excitement when his ear tipped over a bowl of mashed potatoes.

"That was unpleasant," Kimber commented, sounding like her old self again. "Willa, what program did they put you in?"

Willa smiled, gracing the table with the flawless expression. "I got into my Law Enforcement program, just as I wanted to. Thank you for asking."

"Law Enforcement? You?" Toby asked incredulously. "No offense," he hastened to add, "but you don't seem like the type to choose something like that."

The blonde lifted one shoulder in a graceful half-shrug. "It is my passion. Speaking of passions…" she trailed, gazing meaningfully at her roommate.

Jael grinned. "Guess who's going to be an Auror?"

It was an incredibly competitive job field, and she deserved every compliment she got. "And how about you, Lydia?"

Obviously nervous, Lydia shyly revealed her field. From behind her roommate's head, Cari gave the group a warning look, but she might as well not have bothered. Everyone was excited for her. Even Chayton was nice in his own way – telling her that she was responsible for all party planning for their group in the foreseeable future. "I would love to! What job did you get, Eric?"

The tall blond boy frowned. "I'm not really sure. They said something about traveling to other countries and helping to make more accurate maps since some of the ones we have are kind of spotty. But the official title is Ambassador."

Tessa pulled a skeptical face. "I have literally never heard of anyone doing that ever. Are there even classes for it?"

He shrugged. "Maybe they'll make some? If not, I won't complain. Fridays off sound good to me." Eric leaned back in his seat, grinning at his own wit. "Cari, what do they have you in?"

"Broomsmithery." Everyone looked dumbfounded and Cari sighed. "I know that's not really a word, but there's no good term for it, so you'll just have to forgive the imaginary title."

"Cari," Shadow said slowly, "that's a really rare field. All the Echowick broomsmith classes take place in one building since there are only two people in the program. Three, including you."

"That's awkward. What are you going to be doing?" Cari decidedly did _not_ like being the center of attention and was eager to change the subject.

"Architecture!" Everyone groaned. "Hey, knock that off. When I'm a famous architect someday, you'll be able to brag that you got to listen to me lecture for seven years… for free! You're welcome!"

The somewhat serious conversation devolved from there into a series of complaints about Shadow's tendency to go off on architectural tangents as well as some conjecturing on what their classes would be like.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, I know, lot of issues with this chapter. Sorry to do the whole 'chunking' thing when revealing everyone's future careers, but I really didn't want to take the time to spread it over two or more chapters. Now it's over and you know where everyone's headed and what they'll be doing. Honestly, I've had these careers planned out since I created the characters, and I hope you also think that they fit! Also, I would like to apologize to everyone made uncomfortable by Lydia and Cari's conversation about their bodies. I try to make this story as true to life as possible and I've heard these very words often enough that they needed to be used. Additionally, as the proud owner of a gigantic Italian nose, please don't think I'm making fun of anyone who shares my heritage. Be proud of who you are, people!

Okay, back to actual relevancy: Big thanks as usual to HarryPotterFanHermione for the review(s)! And I totally get being swamped with school/work/life in general. Don't sweat it! :) Everyone have a wonderful day and enjoy the rebirth of Harry Potter fandom as Fantastic Beasts premieres in theaters (for the US, at least)!


	22. First Day: Year Two

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related franchises, spinoffs, or recognizable characters.

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First Day Year Two

From the time Cari was very young, she never could sleep very well if there was something big going on the next day. This held true on her first day of second year. Up ridiculously early, she quietly dressed in her robes and went over to the cafeteria. Just as last year, Shadow was already seated at their table and she silently joined him.

"Good morning, Romana," he greeted cheerfully. She returned the sentiment and he leveled a look at her. "Thought any more about those flying lessons?"

"Shadow-" was all she could get out before he interrupted.

"Come on! It's fun; you'll love it! Besides," he leaned in slightly and lowered his voice. "I didn't want to mention it last night in case it sounded like bragging, but I made the Quidditch team. Wouldn't it be great to learn how to fly with your friend, one of the real, live Physical Wing Chasers?"

Cari didn't answer immediately, feeling sick. Though Quidditch wasn't seen by Echowick Institute as being incredibly important, it had a large following among the students. In playing on one of the teams, Shadow was practically guaranteeing that he would become popular. _If he has his choice of anyone to hang out with, how long is he going to keep spending time with our group? How long is going to keep spending time with_ me _?_ Impossibly, Cari's stomach dropped further. She wasn't outright hated as she had been the year before, but calling her popular would be such a big lie that it would be funny. _How long do I have until I have to say goodbye?_

Shadow was studying her face, frowning. "Romana-" he started, concerned. He was stopped by someone settling down next to him.

"I was a little surprised not to see you at team tryouts, Romana," Niccolo Rossi said casually."

Hardly believing that such a quiet, well-liked boy was deigning to speak to her, Cari forced herself to shrug nonchalantly. "Well, I'm not much of a player. I'm more interested in the brooms than the game itself."

"I know," Niccolo said simply. "That's why I asked Fleet to make you the student head of broom care and official referee apprentice."

"What?" Cari gasped, floored. "But… why?"

"Come on, Romana. All of us remember the Thanksgiving Day game last year and how you saved Khan's life. I want you looking out for the safety of broom riders, on the ground and in the air. It won't take up much of your time and it gives you a great seat to watch every Quidditch game."

Seeing that Cari was still hesitant, Niccolo changed tactics, appealing instead to her sense of responsibility. "Look at it this way: you're in broomsmith training, right?" He smiled at her surprise. "Fleet told me. Anyway, most jobs in that field have to do with making and caring for brooms belonging to Quidditch teams. This will look great on your apprenticeship applications, especially if you keep it up for the rest of your time at Echowick."

He stood. "Anyway, Fleet is going to come ask you about it soon, but I wanted to make sure you had enough time to think it through all the way."

Stunned as she was, Cari's manners still prompted her to call out, "Hey, thanks!" as Niccolo walked away. He merely raised a hand in acknowledgement and continued on his way to the seventh-year table.

Shadow watched Niccolo's back as the older boy went. An awkward silence hung over the table and Cari began to long for some of their other friends to join them at the table. Just before she decided to finish her food and leave, Shadow spoke, though his sullen tone of voice was somewhat less than comforting. "What was all of that about, Romana?"

Trying to seem effortlessly innocent, Cari said lightly, "Well, you heard Niccolo. Apparently, I'm going to get to be a student referee. Looks like you won't be the only one out on the Quidditch pitch this year!" She laughed, but the sound faded when Shadow didn't join in.

"You know that isn't what I'm talking about." He leaned in, frowning hard enough to create little lines between his eyebrows. "I didn't even know that you knew how to fly. When did that happen? And you never said that you had such a big part in last year's Thanksgiving Quidditch game. In fact, you said that you were just a spectator! What is going on?"

Cari sighed. "Okay, so the truth is that I was just a spectator. When I was here by myself over Thanksgiving break, I felt lonely and left-out. I tried to break into the broom shed, but Fleet caught me. I told her I had never flown and was never given the chance and she agreed to teach me. I only knew the basics of flying, so I just watched the Quidditch game, but I noticed something wrong with Khan's broom. That's all that happened."

"Are you the one who hung up the Garbin dummy at the end of last year?"

Hurt by the serious and sincere way Shadow asked the question, Cari drew back sharply. "No! Of course I didn't. I told you about the security footage of Pitt hanging it up. Why would you even ask me that?"

"When people asked me if you had done it, I told them 'no way. Cari doesn't break the rules. She doesn't even know how to fly!' Now I find out that all of the stuff that I've been telling people that you would never do, you had already done at that point! I… I just don't know what to think about you right now, Romana."

"I see." Back stiff, Cari stood, gathering her things. "If you'll excuse me, I think I left something in my room."

As she walked, she could hear Shadow calling after her, but paid no attention. Since she didn't want to go back to the dorm where Lydia and Kimber would be up and about, Cari began walking to her first class of the day, making a quick stop in a nearby restroom to wipe the tears from her face.

To make things even more unpleasant, the first class of her second year was Charms, again to be taught by Professor Garbin. Deciding that she would rather not sit in the classroom with him, Cari opted to hang out in the hallway until it was time for the lesson to start, carefully staying out of sight of her friends. _After all,_ she thought glumly, _who knows what they think of me by now. If Shadow's told them everything, they probably aren't too happy with me, either._

Just before eight o'clock, Cari slipped into the Charms classroom. Thankfully, the seat next to Lydia was empty and she quickly claimed it. Unsure of her welcome, she busied herself by opening her textbook and pulling out a pencil and paper.

"Hey," Lydia hissed, leaning toward her. Hesitantly, Cari looked at her friend and roommate, surprised at how much Lydia's reaction meant to her. She steeled herself as Lydia spoke again, "Do you have an extra pencil? I forgot mine in the room!"

Laughing in relief, Cari handed Lydia one of her extra pencils – mostly carried because Lydia was quite forgetful where materials were concerned – and risked a glance around the room. No one was really paying any attention to her, except for a glaring Shadow. She scowled back briefly, but returned her attention to the front of the room as Garbin wrote 'Charms II' on the board.

"Listen up, students!" he roared, apparently ignoring the fact that no one was making any noise. "I hope you're all ready to learn. If you thought last year was difficult, you're in for a rude awakening. Since some of you will likely be dropping this class at the beginning of next year, you will have to learn the rest of the charms necessary in everyday life by the end of this year. If that sounds like an impossible task, that is because it is. I will warn you right now that no student has ever gotten a grade of 'A' in Charms II and I expect no one ever will."

With that cheerful introduction, Garbin began to lecture on the first chapter of charms, stressing articulation and clarity of wand movements. In the fifty-five minute class, Cari wrote several pages of notes and her hand had long since begun to cramp by the time they left.

Magical Heritage was next. Fortunately, Professor Fleet was much more of an inspirational speaker than Professor Garbin had been, though she spoke about a similar topic. "As some of you will be dropping this class at the end of this year, I would like you to have a complete understanding of the tribes of North America, so we will be focusing on finishing our exploration of their traditions and cultures. Happily, we have already made significant progress on the topic and our year should be no more strenuous than last year was. Additionally, we will be taking a field trip of sorts at the end of the year, visiting one of the places where Echowick's magical fields originate." There was an excited murmur and Fleet smiled. "Sounds like fun, does it not? Let us get to work, then."

They delved right into the spot they had left off at the end of the previous year and spent an hour immersed in Native American legends before Fleet dismissed them to go off to Potions class with Professor Brunn. The woman was largely unchanged from the year before, though still as visually striking as the first time the students had seen her.

"I do hope," she said loftily, "that none of you are considering dropping this class for the rest of your Echowick education. After all, the importance of Potions cannot be overestimated." Chayton, seating conspicuously in the front of the classroom, nodded his head imperiously. Brunn smiled at him in particular as she said, "Though not all of you possess the innate talent required to become Potions Masters, there are still many benefits to the study of potion-making. With the goal of keeping as many of you in this course of study as possible, this year will be focused on semi-advanced potions. My children," she said with a gravely dramatic flair, "this year, we will be creating the interesting brews."

They had managed to create a solid base for their potions by the time they were dismissed. Brunn praised their hard work and dedication, asking that they return to her classroom the next morning in the same mood and ready to work.

Everyone was wary as they walked into the Survival classroom. They all remembered what had happened on the first day of last year, but all was silent. When Mr. Kreer walked in, he made a beeline to the front of his classroom, wheeled around, and slammed his hands on the desk. He leaned forward on them, smiling menacingly over his salt-and-pepper beard. "Well, kids. Guess who got permission for more projects?" All around the room, students groaned while Cari and Jael exchanged delighted glances.

Kreer continued. "However, that permission comes with a catch: we have to bump up our studies on safety, first aid, and a couple of other things. First up? Starting a fire… _without_ magic."

By the end of the class period, only Fletchmeister had managed to light his pile of kindling – safely ringed by flame retardant spells – but was so excited by his success that his exclamation of, "Yeah, who's the master of fire?" put it right back out. After giving several hints and tips, Mr. Kreer promised that they would work on it again the next day and dismissed the students for lunch.

Cari was pleased to find that none of her friends were treating her any differently… Other than Shadow, of course, who seemed to take her omission as a personal insult. In the middle of the meal, he interrupted the conversation to say, "Why don't you guys ask Cari about her job offer?"

Obviously, this got the attention of her friends. "Job?" "What is he talking about, Romana?" "Awesome, can you loan me five bucks?"

Ignoring the last question, Cari explained Niccolo's visit that morning and the offer to become a student referee and broom care apprentice. Their responses were largely positive, congratulating her on the achievement. With each accolade, Shadow's expression grew darker. When the group had grown nearly silent, Lydia said, "It's funny; I didn't know that you knew how to fly, Cari."

"Yeah, tell them the other half of that story, Romana," Shadow pushed, smiling triumphantly.

Sighing, Cari told everyone what had happened over Thanksgiving break. The responses were… strange.

"Fleet caught you? That's hysterical!" Chayton said, laughing.

Lionel elbowed him. "Chayton, what you should be focusing on is that Fleet caught her and she didn't get in any trouble! You're my hero, Cari." She smiled across the table at her kind friend.

Shadow, for his part, grew even more upset. "Seriously? That's all you guys have to say to her? She _lied_ to us. _All_ of us!"

"Shadow," Eric said in his calmest, most logical voice. "She didn't lie; she just didn't tell us everything. That's no crime. I don't tell you guys everything that happens to me and I wouldn't expect you to tell me everything that happens in your lives."

Just as Shadow seemed ready to go off the deep end, Toby spoke up. "Cari, do you have a copy of that essay? It sounds like you put a lot of work into it and it certainly must have impressed Professor Fleet. I would really like to read it."

Cari smiled gratefully. "I actually don't have another copy on hand, but maybe Fleet still has the essay. If not, I do remember the books I used as references if you would be interested in a list."

He thanked her and surprisingly, Kimber spoke up. "Cari, are you going to do this?" She shrugged, but Kimber didn't wait to hear any explanations. "…because you should. It would look fantastic for your apprenticeship applications and for jobs later on. Plus, it sounds like you really do have a natural talent for it."

Stunned by the girl's kind words, Cari agreed to carefully consider the offer. Shadow slammed his cup down on the table and angrily strode away. "What was that all about?" Tessa asked, seeming flustered by his strong reaction.

Fletchmeister rolled his eyes. "Shadow's always had a soft spot for Romana. I think the idea that she doesn't actually tell him everything gets him all upset." He caught sight of Cari's confused face and asked, "What? You can't tell me that you didn't notice! He looks at you like you're his little sister or something."

"We're the same age."

Ruffling his dark red hair in frustration, Fletchmeister said defensively, "Well, I know that, but you try explaining something to him! He's got a bit of a temper."

No one could disagree with that, which was a good thing since lunch was ending. The Physical and Academic Wings both had Transfiguration next, so they headed off to Professor Perez's classroom. Perez was the same bouncy, funny man as he had been last year, and soon had them all laughing even as he warned them that they would be working on more advanced transfigurations over the course of the year.

"And I know you guys don't want to hear it, but we're going to have to start paying attention to the time element. Your final this year will include a practical like last year's did, but this year, you'll have a limited amount of time to complete the work." He spoke over their nervous complaining. "It won't be a short amount of time by any means, but it's still something that we need to keep in mind. Now, let's dig in, shall we?"

By the time Transfiguration ended, Cari was more than ready for the comparative peace offered by Herbology. Their class still took place in the first greenhouse, but they had moved to the second section of it. When Cari pushed through the plastic barrier behind Tessa, she found herself immersed in a swampy humidity worse than any she had felt in this part of the country.

Making a face, she asked aloud, "Why is it so hot in here?"

"Very good question, Miss Romana," Professor Tallet said, walking through the plastic sheet at the entrance on the opposite side of the room. "If you remember our first day of the last school year, I told you, Miss Alston, not to move the barrier into this very section of the greenhouse." Tessa, blushing at the reminder, nodded. "That is because this section of the greenhouse must be kept at a very specific level of heat and humidity. You see," she said, speaking to the now-gathered class, "This year, we will begin to grow and care for plants of magical origin. I generally prefer to focus on the plants of the rainforest for your second year. Does anyone have any ideas why?"

There were several theories put forward, but Professor Tallet rejected every one. "Amazon plants are among the toughest in the world. They withstand a variety of threats on a daily basis and have even developed their own defense mechanisms. They require a lot of water, but are otherwise very difficult to kill. This is especially true of the magical plants, which often possess secondary defense systems. We will be planting these varieties, but unlike last year, we will not be growing them from seeds as their developmental times are too long. Instead, I have a batch of seedlings that we will be replanting into the beds. Everyone take a seedling."

As the plastic trays were passed around, Tallet lectured on their powers. "These particular plants are known as _Nepenthes_ _Insusurro_ , or 'The Plant of Whispers'. They are meat-eating plants, and though powerless right now, they will develop impressive psychic powers in roughly two weeks. They will, in short, be able to influence your minds unless the proper precautions are taken." She walked around their row of soil, helping the students to properly transport the plants.

"I have a set of headphones for each student. They block out noise, but their real use with the _Nepenthes_ _Insusurro_ is that they play music. With your mind otherwise occupied, the plants have a harder time influencing you. You may bring a device to play music of your choosing, but I will warn you that slow music does not seem to be as effective. For those who do not own a music player, I will tune your headphones to my own music, a collection of Merlin's Minatory Robots." From where she stood beside Cari, Lydia beamed at the mention of her favorite band.

"Now, here's the reason you all won't like me very much," Professor Tallet said, immediately getting the class's attention. "Since these plants require so much water, you will have to visit them daily. Yes, every single day. I will be able to tell if you do not. Fortunately, the _Nepenthes_ _Insusurro_ matures fully from this stage in less than one month. For the next twenty-six days, I need each of you to come to this room in the greenhouse and water your plants. Have I said it enough? Water your plants every day." The students were all nodding now and she nodded back once, her long braid moving up and down her back. "Good. Now, you won't need to wear the headphones for another week, but then you'll have to wear them every day…"

As the class went on, Tallet explained where they would find the headphones, the proper amount of water the plants should receive, and how they were used by the wizards who inhabited countries with tropic climates. When she dismissed the students, Cari went straight back to her room to find something which played music. She could not make it twenty-six days listening to Merlin's Minatory Robots.


	23. Week One

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related franchises. The situations and magical world represented in this particular fanfiction are the sole creation of J.K. Rowling and all right to the aforementioned belong to her.

* * *

Week One

Cari had scarfed down her dinner and gone straight to bed. It was strangely exhausting to be fighting with Shadow. The next morning, she woke up uncharacteristically late and by the time she got to the cafeteria, he had already left. She hadn't exactly wanted to run into him since he was being so unpleasant, but she had hoped that they could have put the argument behind them. Instead, she went off to class resigned to avoiding looking in his direction.

The day passed quickly. The teachers kept up the grueling pace they had set on the first day and by the time she left Herbology, Cari was certain she would never finish the homework the students had been assigned. She worked on it in her room until Lydia accused her of being a nerd and a teacher's pet, and wheedled her into coming up to the student lounge to watch Eric and Chayton have a contest having something to do with tears per drop of hot sauce on the tongue. Cari mainly agreed to stop Lydia from trying to explain it to her.

When they got to the student lounge, however, it was just a bunch of Cari's friends standing silently around a single armchair in the center of the room. "Come in," and "Sit down," were the major things she heard when she walked in, but Cari just snorted loudly in response. "Not happening." She leaned against the wall just inside the door and stared coolly at the gathered masses. "Start talking."

Lydia spoke first. "Cari, we don't know why Shadow is taking this whole argument so seriously-"

Fletchmeister sighed. "I _told_ you why! Soft spot, remember?"

Ignoring the boy, Lionel finished Lydia's point, "But he's been in a foul mood for the past day and a half. He's becoming completely impossible to live with."

"I can personally vouch for that," Eric cut in. Cari studied him, noting the dark circles under his eyes. Eric raised a blond eyebrow. "Do you see this?" he asked, indicating his tired face, mussed hair, and wrinkled clothes. "He was slamming stuff around and muttering to himself until three o'clock in the morning. I couldn't catch a bit of sleep!"

Cari sighed. "I'm really sorry about that, Eric, but I don't see what I can do to help any of it. He's mad at me and is going to stay mad at me. There's nothing I can do."

"You could apologize," Lydia said softly.

Cari gaped. "Seriously? I already did! What am I supposed to do, apologize again?" They all nodded. "Seriously?" she asked again.

"Stop being ridiculous." Cari looked over, ready to tear into Chayton only to find that he was glaring at the rest of the group. "Of course she shouldn't apologize again. Shadow's acting like a child, and what do you do with a spoiled child? Ignore him. Stop giving him the attention."

"What are you talking about?" Lydia cried. "You're his best friend!"

Ignoring the various arguments to the contrary from Fletchmeister and Eric, Chayton said, "Yeah, his best friend, not his parent, which is the only reason I haven't said anything sooner. But this is stupid. Cari, don't you dare apologize to him. He'll be treated like an adult when he can express himself like one. As for you," he stabbed a finger at Eric, "if you can't sleep because Shadow's being a diva, you can come crash with me. Don't sacrifice her because you need a nap." They all stared at Chayton, who threw himself into the armchair. "For Merlin's sake, you people are driving me up the wall."

Cari slid down the wall to sit cross-legged on the floor. "I was lured up here with the promise of a game…"

Fletchmeister grinned widely, pulling a rectangular packet wrapped in silvery foil from a pocket of his robes. "Anyone up for Exploding Snap?"

There was a general buzz of interest, along with a few who didn't know the rules, but this was quickly settled. After a few slow games, everyone had the hang of it and Kimber insisted that they play by the 'Bavarian Rules'. The cards were dealt in a circle, but no one could find the matching pair quickly enough. After all the cards exploded, they were at a loss for something to do, so the group elected to go to dinner on the early side.

Toward the end of dinner, Cari saw Professor Fleet coming their way. "Students, please remember that you have Astronomy tonight. You will once again be escorted by your Wing Leaders to the Astronomy Tower, so please do not be late to meet them. Once again, a short nap is highly recommended. Good evening."

Lydia and Tessa began to widen eyes at Cari, looking to Fleet and back. Cari, getting their message, rose and followed the Headmistress. "Professor Fleet, may I have a word?" she called when the professor had reached the back of the cafeteria and seemed ready to leave.

"Miss Romana," she greeted, turning. "Of course you may."

"Niccolo Rossi told me that you approved his request for me to be a type of broom care apprentice. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is. Though I must warn you that this is a tricky situation you will be putting yourself into." Cari frowned, confused, and Fleet explained, "If you are successful in discharging your duties in a practical and mindful manner, the experience will make a wonderful addition to your resume. However, if you do not, for whatever reason, that failure will still be put on your record, potentially giving pause to some potential employers. On one hand is a very large benefit; on the other is a very large drawback. I hope you have considered the offer carefully, and please know that you may have more time to do so if you have not already."

Cari's mind raced, but in the end, she decided to stick with her original decision. "Professor Fleet, thank you for the warnings, but this is too great an opportunity to turn down. If it is acceptable, I would really love to be the student head of broom care."

The Headmistress studied her carefully while Cari tried not to squirm under the searching gaze. "All right," she finally said. "But I will warn you that this will take much of your time over the next few weeks. You will need to be trained on how to care for the brooms before the first Quidditch match as well as having thoroughly learned the rules of Quidditch so you can act as a second pair of eyes for the referee." Cari nodded and Fleet's expression grew even more serious. "I have another condition for you as well."

Feeling distinctly, unexplainably nervous, Cari said, "Yeah? And what is that?"

Her eyes sparkled as she said, "You must come and help out with the flight lessons."

"What?"

"The level of interest has been far beyond what I had anticipated. Right now, my choices are to either add another pair of eyes and hands, or split the group into several different classes. Do you agree to these terms?" Professor Fleet held out one of her slim hands, ready to shake.

Without hesitation, Cari took the Headmistress' hand, shaking it heartily. "I accept! When do we get started?"

One corner of her mouth lifted in a small half-smile, Fleet said, "Sunday, nine a.m. Be sure to wear something comfortable, but not too nice. We've got some hard work to do."

Professor Fleet left the cafeteria then, and Cari returned to her table, unable to hold back her beaming smile. It was an exciting opportunity, but between the class that night and the idea of upcoming hard work, Cari decided that she needed a nap and soon excused herself.

Since Stephanie had graduated, the Physical Wing had been given a new Leader, a short, colorless boy named Spode. By colorless, she meant both in looks – pale skin, hair, and eyes – and in personality – he had none. After a brief introduction, consisting mainly of, "I'm Spode, let's get you to Astronomy," he led them to the Tower without another word.

They were the last Wing to arrive, since apparently Spode was incapable of walking faster than a slow meander. _It's going to be a long year_ , she realized with a sigh. On the bright side, Professor Ford was the same soothing person she had been last year, inviting them inside to choose their seats.

"Hello students," she greeted in her soft voice. "I trust you all had a wonderful summer vacation and have returned to Echowick rested and ready to learn. I am sure that your other professors have warned you that this year will likely be your busiest at this school, but I am happy to reassure you, that is not the case here in Astronomy."

There was a shocked, yet relieved buzz around the classroom and Professor Ford smiled gently. "Yes, you all have made excellent progress over the past year. I see no reason to push you when you quite satisfactorily fulfilled all of the requirements with the pace we used last year. If you will all please turn to your telescopes?"

While Cari was going through her textbook, finding stars and learning about them, making notes of the important information, she thought over a lot of things. Something about the golden light, the music, and the silence always put her into a state of meditation. Today was no different, and Cari spent the class wondering if everyone did so well because the class was truly easy or because Professor Ford was such a superior professor. At the end of their lesson, pulled from telescopes by the woman's calm, "Please finish your work on the star you are studying. Once you have done so, you are dismissed. Have a wonderful evening."

When Cari found her way outside with the rest of the students, Spode was waiting. As soon as he caught sight of the Physical Wing students, he turned and began to amble down the stairs without a single sign of recognition. Cari would have been more upset by this, but she knew that she could easily catch him, even if she left the Tower later than literally any other student. Rolling her eyes in unison with Lydia, they reluctantly followed their Leader, praying that they would get to sleep before dawn.

With Spode's glacial pace, the students of the Physical Wing had been late in getting to bed and the lessened amounts of sleep were obvious. There were so many tired students that Professor Garbin had threatened to send the next student who yawned to the Headmistress' office. He had looked pointedly at her when he made the threat. Cari had never needed to yawn so badly in all of her life, but she restrained it with difficulty.

Thankfully, they made it through Charms without incident and went on to teachers who were far more understanding. Professor Brunn said sympathetically, "The first Astronomy class of the year is always hard." She gave an exaggerated shudder. "I never did understand how my sister can stay up so late. She's practically nocturnal! It's not normal."

Cari smiled. The way Brunn spoke of Ford made her miss Byron and the sibling camaraderie they had together. The castle drawing he had given her hung on the bulletin board in her dorm room. Sometimes, if she saw it from the corner of her eye, it seemed to remind her of something… Perhaps Byron had copied it from a movie she had seen as a young child…

Thursday evening, Niccolo came over to the dinner table after most of the students had begun to leave for their own rooms. "Romana, I heard you accepted the broom care and referee job. Good choice. There are a lot of-"

"So this is the referee apprentice I've heard about. The rumors are true," a cold voice sneered. Cari turned to find that Ravinger Kaine was approaching from behind Niccolo's back. When he reached them, Ravinger's gaze flicked up and down, taking in every aspect of Cari's appearance. He smiled unpleasantly. "What a shame. Such a promising position given to a Physical Wing Mongrel… and it's a Broomsmith to boot."

If only she had known that her stony face was a perfect imitation of Niccolo's. Ravinger turned back slightly, jerking his head in the direction of the third-year's table. Pitt Geikas came up to stand by the older boy, who wrapped his arm around Pitt's shoulders. "Thing, I believe you know the newest Beater on the Political Wing Team, Pittrellean Geikas. He's been telling me just how excited he is to spend time with you again." Ravinger let out a chilling laugh.

Ignoring both of them, Cari crossed her arms and looked up at Niccolo. "I thought Pitt was banned from using a broom on Echowick property."

Niccolo looked like he had smelled something gross. "The last I heard, his mommy made a healthy donation to the school, but only with the stipulation that Pitt had to be allowed to play on the Quidditch team. The board of directors voted unanimously that his banning was unfair and that there was no way to prove that the tape hadn't been doctored in any way."

"Wow. That sounds very… Pureblooded." Cari hadn't meant to put any particular emphasis on the last word, but she spat it out sharply.

Ravinger looked, if possible, even more pleased with himself. "If you will excuse me, I have some Quidditch strategies to draw up. Coming, Geikas?"

"Of course. I'll see you on the Quidditch pitch, Mongrel," Pitt smirked. She blew him a sarcastic kiss from the tip of one finger – the middle one, of course. The smirk faded around the edges as Pitt trotted to catch up with Ravinger's retreating form.

"Don't worry about him, Romana," Niccolo said, resting a hand on Cari's shoulder. "As a referee, you'll practically be the safest person at any Quidditch game."

Smiling at his obvious attempt to eliminate her nerves, Cari looked up at him. "How many times do you think I can call fouls on their team before someone catches on?"

Niccolo let out a surprised laugh, unfortunately attracting the attention of Arsenia, who was sitting at the next table. She headed their way, but Niccolo ignored her. "You'll be alright, kid. I think you really will." Just as Arsenia reached out to wrap her hands around his upper arm, the seventh-year walked away. The pretty blonde girl glared at the table of laughing second-years and walked after Niccolo in a huff.

Lydia stretched her arms across the table, resting her head on one as she looked up at Cari. "Other than those two sleaze-balls showing up and the poisonous whore, that was perfect." She sighed dreamily.

"What are you talking about?" Eric demanded. "That was unpleasant all around."

Jerking her head up to stare at Eric, Lydia looked deeply offended as she said, "You have no appreciation. That man," she waved a hand behind her to indicate Niccolo, "is beautiful. Do you even _know_ what he's going to school for?"

Tessa abruptly joined the conversation from a corner of the group. "He's training to be a Beast Master. Hot."

Lydia's face took on a complete look of 'told you so' and Jael laughed. "Have you guys heard what they say about why he's so good in his classes?"

Willa leaned in. "That he's so beautiful, even the animals can't fight against those soulful eyes." She batted her own and all the girls laughed.

A disgusted look on his face, Chayton stood up. "Yeah, I'm leaving. It's getting weird in here." One by one, all of the boys agreed and followed him out, presumably headed to one of the student lounges. Surprisingly, Kimber stayed behind rather than joining the boys.

Of course by then, the conversation had moved to another of Echowick's resident heartthrobs: Doctor Combes. Lydia was laughingly telling her account of the time Cari was in the Hospital Building with injuries from Pitt. "It was the most horrible thing. I was so mad and crying because I was scared for Cari, but then I get there and this good-looking guy is taking care of her. I had half a mind to go get hurt myself!"

"I know exactly what you mean," Kimber joined in. "I twisted my ankle at the end of the last school year and I thought I was going to explode when he offered to wrap it for me!"

Far from being surprised at Kimber's unexpected participation, everyone laughed and offered their own stories, lamenting the lack of cute boys in their own age group. "Not that any of them are hideous," Willa offered fairly. "They're just all so immature."

"I don't know," Tessa said slowly. "Did you see Toby? I hardly recognized him when he got here. He did a lot of growing over the summer."

Lydia waggled her eyebrows. "Go for it, girl. He's got a thing for you, I promise. He's not exactly subtle."

Tessa still looked shocked. "Me? With Toby? I would eat that poor boy alive!" They burst into loud laughter.

A short time later, Professor Brunn stopped by their table. "Girls, I hate to tell you this, but it's almost curfew. You might want to head to your dorms now." She smiled conspiratorially. "Though I am glad to see you all having such fun." She wandered off and the rest of the table soon followed with a final giggle.

On Friday morning, Cari woke up disgruntled and far too early. Apparently, her irritating sleeping quirk counted this as another first day. It was, really, but that didn't mean Cari was happy to be awake so long before her classes actually began. But now, unable to sleep and reluctant to merely lie in bed awake, she faced a lack of choices. Gritting her teeth, Cari began to dress, praying all the while that Shadow had slept in that morning.

Her hopes were dashed as she walked into the cafeteria and immediately spotted the familiar, sandy blond head. _You know what? I'm not doing this. I'm not going to tiptoe around this school because of a sulking boy, friend or not._

She marched up to the table before she could lose her nerve, plopping down across from Shadow. As he looked up in surprise, Cari demanded, "Are you still pouting? Because I'm really getting sick of your attitude." He gaped at her and she amended, "I'm sorry, that was a little harsh. But come on! All I can do is apologize and I've already done that." Her voice softened as she admitted, "I miss my friend."

Shadow dropped his gaze to stare down at the table. Cari waited patiently, watching him. Sure enough, he looked back up at her shortly, apology written all over his face. "Cari, I am so sorry. I had no reason to freak out, it just caught me off guard that so many big things happened and you didn't tell me- tell us," he corrected hurriedly. Smiling wryly, he said, "You don't always have to handle everything on your own, you know." He sighed. "But, as much as I don't understand you, this week has really sucked without you. I miss my friend, too. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, but I think the best thing would be to stop talking about it." Shadow smiled in agreement. "So, what's been happening with you this week?"

Shadow began telling her about the things that had happened in their week of silence. Though they had the same classes, it was terrifying how much she had missed. _How am I ever going to make it when Shadow is too popular to talk to me?_ As if he had heard her thoughts, Shadow said, "Oh! And our first Quidditch practice was scheduled. The Physical and Academics Wings play the first match, so we both get to practice on Saturday, but Rossi lost the coin flip, so we get the afternoon and Academics gets the morning." Cari nodded encouragingly. Blue gaze sincere, Shadow asked, "And how about you? When do you start working with the brooms?"

"Sunday, Fleet told me. Sounds like we'll be starting pretty early, but I must have a lot to learn!"

"Speaking of learning, you might find out some stuff today that will help. Are you excited to start the specialty classes?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm kind of nervous." Cari fidgeted for a long moment. "Can I ask you a question about the wizarding world?"

"Of course!" Shadow said.

"It seemed like there were a lot of different jobs people were put into. Is that normal?"

"Yeah, pretty much. You have to realize that all of the magical equivalents to the Muggles' unskilled labor jobs are done with simple spells. Even with those jobs taken care of, you still have to fill all of the other jobs needed to make a society run, but with only a fraction of the population. And then, there are the jobs used specifically for magical societies. Careers that have a higher demand, like Lawyers and Teachers, will have classes with more people. Classes for jobs like yours and Kimber's, which are relatively rare, will have fewer students. Make sense?"

Cari nodded just as Eric stumbled into the cafeteria. She and Shadow greeted him and he nodded blearily back. "How long have you guys been here?"

Checking the clock hanging on the wall, Shadow said, "Uh… A little more than an hour."

Eric groaned. "Why do you people do stuff like this?"

Cari frowned. "What do you mean? It's nearly eight. I'm only surprised that we haven't seen anyone else yet."

Eric paused in smoothing his sleep-rumpled hair to remind her, "Romana, today is Friday. Specialty classes don't start until nine."

"Oh," was Cari's only response, feeling a little less than intelligent.

Tessa arrived shortly after, seeming grumpy. She slammed her stuff down next to Eric and began loading up a plate, muttering angrily to herself. "I'll tell you what's wrong!" she started without preamble.

Eric seemed to be deeply regretting his choice of seat even as he said, "Not that anyone asked."

"Don't start with me, Wilkerson," she said threateningly, stabbing piece of toast at his nose from inches away. "Guess who doesn't get to work with the supernaturally stunning Doctor Combes?"

"Not this again," Eric began to grumble, but quieted immediately as Tessa picked up a knife to begin buttering her toast.

"Ooh, what about Doctor Delicious?" Lydia asked, sliding into her usual spot beside Cari.

"I'm not working with him!" Tessa shouted, waving the butter knife around dangerously.

"What?! But you were going to be my in!" Lydia seemed at least as upset as Tessa, if not a bit more so.

" _I_ was going to be my in!" Tessa corrected loudly. Her volume lowered only slightly as she dropped the knife and buried her face in her hands. "Now I'm stuck working with some old lady from New Hampshire or something."

"Hey, I like New Hampshire. It's a nice place." Cari wasn't entirely sure why she was butting in, but it didn't seem to help much anyway.

"Yeah? Well, if she's so great, why did New Hampshire let her go?"

Obviously trying to smother a smile, Shadow said, "Let's look at this logically. Doctor Combes is a full-time medical professional here at the school. Don't you think that his attention should probably be on the students and their health?"

A muffled groan was her only answer. Shadow and Eric made eye contact and rolled their eyes. One by one, the rest of the group came to the table as the first-years left for their classes. The conversation turned to the upcoming specialty classes. Feelings ranged from excitement to nerves to (Tessa's) disappointment.

Forever later and yet, all too soon, it was time for them to split up and go to classes. Wishing each other luck, the students left the cafeteria in various directions.

* * *

Author's Note \- First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! Be sure to spend time with family, eat lots of goodies, and have a wonderful day off work. If you don't get to do any of those, we're in the same boat and we both deserve better. But I digress. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please feel free to leave a review if you so choose. May your day be filled with strong characters and much magic. See you Monday!


	24. Brooms

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials or franchises. Those are all the intellectual property of J.K. Rowliing and Warner Bros.

* * *

Brooms

Cari's Broomsmith classes took place in one of the small outbuildings on Echowick's main campus. She walked inside Building 7, trying to keep from having any expectations. This turned out to be a good thing for many reasons, not the least of which was that the building was larger than she would have guessed it to be. Of course, that could be partly because it was nearly empty, of people at least. If she was counting odd pieces of machinery, sawdust-scattered floors, or stacks of random materials, the room was packed. Nevertheless, when Cari looked around the inside of the building, there were only two other students. They looked vaguely familiar, probably from the cafeteria or Quidditch games, but she had no idea of their names. The only other person inside of the building was the teacher, and that made up the entirety of the class.

Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, Cari stood just inside the doorway and cleared her throat. The professor – at least, the man she assumed was the professor – looked over at her for a second before rushing over with an outstretched hand. "Licaria Romana? Welcome!" He shook her hand energetically.

"Are you Professor Gregory?" Cari asked uncertainly. She knew objectively that it was rude to sound so disbelieving, but the man was far from what she had grown to expect from a professor. He was young and wiry, with light brown hair combed into a neat side part. Rather than wearing the traditional black robes that all of the other teachers wore, he was dressed in faded blue jeans, a pair of ratty-looking tennis shoes, and a hole-filled tee shirt. Looking closer, Cari had to smile when she realized that the picture on the shirt was of the TARDIS with the Fourth Doctor's scarf wrapped around it.

The teacher gave a slight bow. "Wilton Gregory, at your service!" He motioned her into the room. "Come in, come in! Take off your robes!" Cari looked up at the professor incredulously and he turned an impressive shade of red. He seemed unable to meet her gaze as he said, "I apologize, Licaria. We haven't had a female student in the Broomsmith program for as long as I've been here. I'm afraid we've grown a little less than tactful."

Cari laughed. "It's okay. I knew what you meant! And please, just call me Cari."

"Thank you. We will still endeavor to be a little more considerate in the future."

"And I will try to take things in stride," Cari agreed.

"Guys, come over here!" Professor Gregory turned back to Cari. "You're the only new Broomsmith student this year, so we can go ahead and make the introductions." He indicated the two older students. Seeing them up close, Cari realized that they had to be brothers. Both were tall, sturdily-built, with brown hair and black eyes. "This is Asher Phillips, a sixth-year student and this is his younger brother Ransom, a third-year."

Cari waved nervously to the students even as she mentally berated herself for the gesture. _Why did you do that? That was dumb. I've heard of the Phillips family, Pure-Blood as they come. That's nice Cari; give them even more of a reason to hate you. Their eyes are like shark eyes…_

Suddenly, the younger one, Ransom, smiled broadly, revealing white teeth. The grin softened his eyes, warming them to something almost friendly. "Nice to meet you, Cari. Have a pastry!"

"Wh-what?" Cari was sure that she had misunderstood the boy, but Asher, the sixth-year, turned to retrieve a wide bowl filled with donuts, scones, and muffins. He offered it to her and, after searching his face for any hint of a trick, Cari accepted a scone. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Asher replied politely.

"Boys, do you want to go work on your brooms?" The Phillips brothers turned away, walking back to the various pieces of machinery lining the back wall. Professor Gregory gestured for Cari to follow him to a wide desk, where she took a seat across from him. "Now, the Headmistress has said that we have to give an explanation on how the specialty classes work on the first day."

Professor Gregory shifted, slouching in his seat until he caught himself. Straightening, he continued, "Technically, you're supposed to spend the morning portion of the class learning the Broomsmith field and the potential jobs available. In the afternoon, you're supposed to study the basics of creating brooms – though without practical applications at this point." Cari nodded even as Gregory shook his head smilingly. "Well, let me clear up any misconceptions right now. Unless you change fields, all of your job choices will include making brooms. Period."

He crossed one leg over his opposite knee. Trying not to be distracted by his constant need to move, Cari leaned in as the professor continued. "I do things a little differently than the administration suggests. You may spend your time however you choose, as long as you are being productive. If you would prefer to study Broomsmithery in general, feel free. If you would rather study theories of flight, you have three knowledgeable Broomsmiths to debate said theories with. If you decide that you want to start the practical process of learning how to make a broom, well…" he gave a little half-smile. "I can't exactly stop you. I will simply make sure you are using equipment safely and not wasting materials but otherwise leave you to do your own thing."

Professor Gregory stood, brushing a few slivers of wood from his shoulder and motioning to his shirt in the same gesture. "As you have likely noticed, we don't exactly follow the dress code here. Robes are too expensive to work in, but we don't want you to make a mess of your clothes, either. Wear something comfortable and practical to class and you'll be in good shape." He smiled genuinely. "Welcome, Cari Romana. I believe you will do very well here."

With Gregory wandering off toward the other students, Cari was left sitting alone at the large desk. There was no other place to set up learning materials and she reconsidered her knee-jerk reaction to study first. Uncertainly, she looked around the room. _I don't know what those machines are or what they do. I don't know how to do any of this. I should really stay here and study, but I don't want them to think I'm a nerd…_ Unwilling as she was to admit that her classmates' opinions mattered to her, Cari still didn't want to spend the first day of class isolating herself.

Hesitantly, she made her way across the classroom. To his credit, Professor Gregory didn't say anything to indicate surprise at her presence. Instead, he just moved slightly to the side so that she could clearly watch Asher, who held a long stick – a small log, really – setting a chisel against the rough bark and tapping it with a hammer to remove the outer layers.

Softly, the professor explained, "Asher is starting his final project: a broom made entirely by hand using only raw materials. By the end of next year, he will have sanded it, attached the straw and leg rests, carved the correct runes on it, and run numerous trials." Cari nodded wordlessly as they watched the older boy work. Asher, for his part, seemed to be doing his best to ignore them, so Cari followed when Professor Gregory moved on the younger Phillips brother.

Ransom was working on a small piece of wood. It looked like a broom handle but shorter, less than a foot long. He held the glowing tip of his wand to the stick, slowly burning runes into it. From a few minutes of watching him, Cari could tell that he would have to go over the marks a number of times before they were defined enough.

In the same quiet tone, Gregory said, "Ransom is burning the runes required for flight into a sample broomstick handle. When he is done and has used the proper spells on it, I will test it to see how it would fly with the rest of the broom complete."

Tilting her head to the side, Cari studied the rune Ransom was currently working on. "That's the rune used to control the vertical leveling system, right?"

"Very good, Cari!" Professor Gregory complimented her.

Behind him, Asher paused in his chiseling. "Wait, that's why I know your name! Are you the one Rossi's been talking about for the past week? The one who kept Khan from killing himself during the Thanksgiving Quidditch game?"

"Well, I don't know if it would have killed him, really. But yes, that was me. Niccolo asked Professor Fleet to make me some kind of student broom caretaker."

"Even I heard about that incident," Professor Gregory cut in. "Cari, if any of the runes start to go out, it is most definitely a cause for sincere alarm. Professor Fleet has been lauding both your eyesight and attention to detail since the incident occurred." He studied her consideringly. "I admit that I had doubts at first, but now I believe that she made an excellent choice."

Cari couldn't keep the blush from her cheeks. "Thank you, but I don't think it was any big feat. I was just surprised that Khan didn't feel the runes warming. I've heard they get extremely hot as they get closer to going out."

Ransom rolled his dark eyes. "Khan's never been the smartest guy. Quidditch is his only strong suit. But yeah, I'm sure the runes on all of the brooms could stand to be checked."

Professor Gregory beamed. "I'm so glad that you think so, Ransom! The first Quidditch practice of the season starts tomorrow morning and I'm not sure if those brooms will stand up to a full day of wear and tear. Let me contact the Headmistress, but I believe we might set aside our projects for the day and work on the brooms instead."

Asher and Ransom exchanged glances, looking as though they didn't know quite how to feel about this, but soon shrugged and began putting away their various things before Gregory had even established contact with Professor Fleet.

The Headmistress, of course, was delighted by the idea and gave permission immediately. Fortunately, it was a relatively short trip from the back of the Broomsmith classroom, through a little path winding between the trees of the forest, and to the broom shed on the Quidditch Pitch. On the way back, Cari remarked on the oddly convenient way of getting from one place to the other.

Arms laden with brooms, Professor Gregory explained over his shoulder, "Back in the early days of Echowick, students in the Broomsmith program were responsible for the upkeep of the Quidditch pitch and all of the brooms ridden by team members." They walked in silence for a moment before he said in a thoughtful tone, "I don't actually know when that tradition fell out of practice, but it seems to be starting up again. Speaking of, Cari, did you know that I'm the one who will be teaching you to referee and care for the brooms?"

"No, sir, I didn't. I'm sorry you have to give up your Sunday." She glanced at Asher and Ransom. "Are you going to be there on Sunday as well?"

"No, we weren't invited," Asher said blandly.

"I'm sorry," Cari said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.

Ransom grinned. "No, we're sorry. Sorry you have to give up your Sundays and half of your free time from now until the end of the Quidditch season."

"You aren't upset, then?" Cari asked.

Scoffing, the younger Phillips brother said, "Upset? Hardly. More like we're enjoying the fact that we get to focus on our brooms, school work, and social lives. Thanks for taking the bullet on that one, Romana."

"No problem," she muttered, following the other three into the back of Building 7.

Professor Gregory, Asher, and Ransom each dumped their armful of brooms unceremoniously onto a large table in the corner of the classroom and stood around it, looking over the stack. Cari laid her brooms on the top of the rather impressive pile and crossed her arms. It looked like a lot of work, especially with only four people to complete it.

"Okay, so here's how we are going to do this…" Professor Gregory started. He explained to the group that they would use a type of assembly-line process, each one doing work based on their experience level.

Before long, they had settled into a type of rhythm. Professor Gregory would grab a broom from the top of the stack and check the runes to make sure they were still function – or would be with a little bit of touching up. If so, he passed it on to Asher, who re-burnt, touched up, and reactivated the runes before passing it on to his younger brother. Ransom's major task was to check the broom for any physical damage and repair it if he could, adding twigs to the tails or filling nicks and gouges in the handles. When he was done, he passed the brooms to Cari to be cleaned and polished.

Even working steadily through the rest of the morning, there was still a healthy number of brooms waiting to go through the process. Even when they were done, each one still had to be checked by Professor Gregory to be sure that it was safe to fly. With the amount of work left to do, Ransom and Asher opted to eat lunch in Building 7 so that they could get back to work immediately and, unable to stand the idea of working less than everyone else, Cari stayed as well.

Finally, the last of the brooms was being checked by Professor Gregory. They had managed to make repairs so that each broom could be flown. The professor set the finished broom over in the now-overflowing broom stand. He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face before checking his watch. "Okay, kids. You've already been here half an hour longer than you were supposed to stay. I'll take these back up to the broom shed while you guys head back to the school. Thanks for all of the hard work today!"

As Cari gathered her things, the Phillips brothers were gathering theirs as well. They all walked out of Building 7 behind Professor Gregory, who had used _Wingardium Leviosa_ on the entire broom stand and was following it closely to catch any falling brooms. Of course, as Broomsmiths, all three students were in the Physical Wing, so they walked back to the main building in a group.

"Thanks for helping out so much today, Romana," Asher said, walking down the hallway to the sixth-year dorms.

"Yeah, you're pretty hardcore. You know, for a second-year," Ransom added with a grin.

Cari smiled back at both of her fellow Broomsmiths before entering her apartment. No one was there. Of course, it was nearly five o'clock, so Lydia and Kimber were probably in the student lounge or already at dinner. Eager to hear what her friends had thought of their first day of classes, Cari washed up as rapidly as she could, changed into clothes not stained in Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, and hurried up to the student lounge. It was empty, so she went ahead to the cafeteria.

Sure enough, everyone sat at the second-year table. Cari was able to approach unnoticed by the group, who was absorbed in a story being dramatically told by Chayton. "… and it was basically six hours of extra Potions classes! Are you kidding me?"

Shadow laughed. "How else did you expect to become a high and mighty Potions Master?"

Rather than answer, Chayton let out a loud groan and thumped his head against the table, letting his forehead rest on the spot where it had connected. Kimber, sitting next to him, sifted through his wild black hair with her fingertips, lifting a strand upward until it was stretched to the limit. "You should be more worried about getting a haircut, Cousin It."

Laughing at Kimber's less-than-hidden love for Muggle cinema and television, Cari slid into a seat between Lydia and Lionel. Chayton raised his head, a deeply insulted look on his face. "How dare you," he said flatly. "My hair is beautiful. It's my best feature, which is really saying something." He looked up and saw Cari. "Finally, Romana! I though Shadow was going to go off the deep end if you didn't get here soon."

"I was not, you drama queen!" Shadow denied before leaning forward to say, "I am glad to see you, though. We were _all_ starting to worry."

Lydia laughed and confided softly, "If he had known where the Broomsmith classes were, he would have been there when you didn't show up for lunch."

"Anyway!" Shadow broke in. "Romana, how did the classes go?"

Smiling at his carefully nonchalant manner, Cari said, "I think they went well! There are only two of us besides the teacher, so Professor Gregory and I watched them work on their projects for a little while, but then we decided to fix up the school's brooms instead." Everyone looked dumbfounded and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Anyway, they're all ready for the Quidditch teams tomorrow. Tessa, how was the lady who isn't Doctor Combes?"

Arching a brow at Cari, Tessa kindly answered the question, though she smirked the whole time. "It was great! She's no Doctor Delicious, but she has some pretty great stories. Seems like she's still very good at what she does. I don't see why New Hampshire let her go, honestly." Grateful for Tessa's willingness to step in, Cari sat back and listened to the stories of the day. It definitely seemed like hers was one of the less structured classes, and she was grateful.

When Tessa had finished, Shadow said casually, "You know, hospitals, along with schools, often represent the oldest buildings in the world." Everyone groaned. When Shadow got on an architectural tangent – especially one overlapping with history – it was likely to go on forever. "No, wait! This is really cool! Did you know that there's a magical school in the UK that's over a thousand years old? It has all kinds of built-in defenses, including staircases that move!"

It really was one of Shadow's more interesting facts, but the group still teased him for a little while before moving on with the conversation.

* * *

Sunday night, Cari collapsed into bed groaning. Saturday had been her down time, other than the brief window of time taken by watering her 'Plant of Whispers'. But Sunday morning at nine a.m., her work had really started. Though the Broomsmith class had taken care of all of the brooms only two days before, there was apparently a lot of work left to be done.

Professor Gregory had her polishing brooms again with a regretful but firm, "Sorry, I know you're sick of doing this kind of work, but much of being a Broomsmith has to do with the polishing and general upkeep of brooms. By the end of this year, you'll more than likely be able to properly service a broom with your eyes closed."

After taking care of everything the Quidditch teams had managed to do, the professor and Cari used two of the newly-polished brooms to fly around the pitch, Gregory using the time to point out various things that she would need to watch out for as a referee and details about the way a broom was flying. "Yes, we have spells that can accurately determine whether or not a broom is going to fly safely. However, there is no spell in the world that can take the place of human experience. Over the next few weeks, I would like you to fly a number of these brooms to create a baseline of how these models should handle."

When they touched down again, Professor Gregory began quizzing Cari on random Quidditch rules and practices, testing to see how much she knew about the sport. Apparently, not much. "So… We'll work on this as much as we can over the next few weeks, but for the first couple of games, you might be in a more observational role."

"That might be a better plan," Cari agreed. The professor gave her the names of a few books on Quidditch to help her learn the rules and most famous plays in the history of the sport. Cari wrote down the names and promised to find them at the library after classes the next day. It was fairly late in the day by that point, so she just had to polish the two brooms they had ridden and put them away before she was free to go.

After a quick change of clothes, a quick dinner, and a long shower, Cari settled down under her covers and fell deeply, blissfully asleep.

* * *

Author's Note \- So, a few new characters in this chapter. I hope the explanation of Cari's Broomsmith classes wasn't too confusing, but if it was, the system should be easy to pick up as we move along. In any case, thanks for reading! If you would like to leave a review, just to let me know what you think of Cari's story so far, it would be highly appreciated! Have a wonderful, magical day and I'll see you in December!


	25. Trouble

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related franchises. The one and only J.K. Rowling holds the rights to it, as well as all of the extensions to her wonderful world.

* * *

Trouble

Before Cari really knew what was happening, August had passed and September was half-gone. Sadly, the professors had not been exaggerating when they had warned of the increased work load, and most of the second-years were feeling the pressure.

The Whisper Plants had been grown with only one major incident. Timothy, a boy from the Physical Wing, had been working with his plant one afternoon when his headphones had malfunctioned. In the sudden lack of sound, the _Nepenthes_ _Insusurro_ had quickly influenced his mind. Timothy was willingly beginning to feed the plant his own hand when Professor Tallet had seen the situation and tackled him. The nearly-grown plant's mental control had been so strong that she had to physically wrestle Timothy out of the greenhouse's side door before his head could clear.

That had been the day Professor Tallet had decided to play music through the greenhouse and not just in the headphones. The idea was that the secondary layer of music would act as a safety net and hopefully lessen the impact of the _Nepenthes_ _Insusurro_ 's psychic powers. Fortunately, there were no more incidents to test the theory. The plants had grown and had been transported to a lab where wizards were waiting to make use of their medicinal properties. Apparently, the plants were useful in treating digestive problems, though there was a black market for them as a properly prepared drought could allow a wizard to gain the powers to influence others.

Cari's other classes were trending toward a lot of book work, note taking, and quizzes. Even Survival, a mostly hands-on class, was filled with copying from the board at the front of the room, taking notes on first aid, fire-building, how to make a shelter in an emergency, and so on. It was still somewhat interesting, but Cari longed for something hands-on, something she could actually do rather than just learn about. Her Broomsmith classes came close to filling the need, but even then, she was mostly focusing on flight history and the mechanics of flight spells.

Though she tried not to feel like a martyr, Cari privately believed that she might have it worse than her classmates where workload was concerned. Professor Fleet had scheduled the flight class for the first weekend in September and it had taken up almost every second of Cari's Saturday. It had been a major success, and even with Fleet, Cari, and Professor Gregory all working to teach students, there were still some who had been unable to get the individual help that they needed. Cari's friends had come, but since they didn't need help, all she could do was wave wistfully at the across the field. At dinner that night, Professor Fleet had praised everyone who came to the lessons and had announced that there would be a second class in the spring, this one focusing on the rules of Quidditch to prepare any aspiring players for the summer tryouts. The next day, Cari spent polishing every Echowick broom. There had been so many students at the flight classes that every one had been used at least twice.

On top of all of this, Charms was worse than it had ever been. This year – perhaps after being chastised for his outbursts the year before – Garbin was forever assigning essays. If a student spoke without permission in class, they were given an essay on interrupting. If a student didn't know the right answer, they were assigned an essay on the topic. If a student didn't complete their essay from the day before, they were given two more. It didn't help matters that the 'student' in question was, more often than not, Cari herself. To add to the insult, Garbin never read the essays. He would look them over, scanning through to make sure it was complete, and then he would use a charm to heatlessly burn the pages.

As hard as she tried, Cari could never manage to lie low enough to avoid attracting the professor's attention. In mid-September, she found herself standing next to her desk as Professor Garbin lectured her about disrupting the class. She would have liked nothing more than to defend herself by reminding him that all she had done was sneeze, but knew from past experience that it wouldn't help anything. Claims that his judgment was skewed always managed to put Professor Garbin into an even worse than usual mood.

"Yet again, Miss Romana, I am forced to assign you an essay. This one, also due tomorrow, will be three pages on the topic of disrupting one's classmates and the injustice of depriving them of educational opportunities. I hope that will help remind you of proper classroom decorum. Sit down." Garbin sat as he had told her to, smoothing his robes self-importantly. Cari did as well, easing carefully into her seat to avoid any unnecessary noises that might be considered additional distractions.

As she looked over to smile exasperatedly at Lydia, Cari caught sight of Lionel, looking as though he was going to say something rash. He made eye contact with her and she shook her head warningly. He stared back insistently, but she continued the discouraging gesture. _That's all I need, to get him in trouble, too. He barely got away with standing up to Garbin last year. Now that we're friends, Garbin will send us all to see Fleet._

Lionel was now ignoring her completely, and Cari could see from his posture that he was on the verge of standing up. Frantically, she shot a look to Kimber, who was sitting at the desk directly behind Lionel. To her credit, it didn't take Kimber long to figure out exactly what was going on. Her gaze flicked from Cari to Lionel to the now-lecturing Professor Garbin and half a second later her hand shot out. Smoothly, she grabbed a fistful of the material of Lionel's robes, gathering the material at the back of his neck and holding it firmly.

Already starting to rise, Lionel's neck hit the tautened material. He gagged loudly and sat back down, having essentially been clotheslined by his own robes. Professor Garbin whipped around, torn from writing notes on the board, and studied the students from the front of the room. Fortunately, he didn't see Kimber, still holding Lionel down by the robes. Unfortunately, his gaze rested on Cari. "Romana!" he bellowed. "Making noise again? Does your disrespect know no bounds?"

He stood panting as Willa slowly lifted a hand. "Yes, Miss Fredericks?"

Willa delicately cleared her throat. "I beg your pardon, sir, but I made the noise."

Garbin stared at the girl. Cari could practically see the gears turning inside of his head. The sound had obviously been of a gagging male. The idea of that sound coming from someone who looked like Willa was laughable. Disbelievingly, he asked, "You?"

"Yes, sir," Willa said, lowering her gaze regretfully. "I've had a truly terrible cold lately and I can't seem to shake it. The coughing is grotesque and I apologize for disrupting the class with the sound."

Professor Garbin could only gaze at her, obviously not believing the audacious story. However, she stared up at him with guileless blue eyes, no hint of a lie on her face. He shook his head and sighed. "Just don't let it happen again, Miss Fredericks."

"No, sir," she murmured contritely, then snuck a wink at Cari, who smiled back. Lionel looked utterly furious with all of them.

As Cari was leaving the Charms classroom, Lionel caught up with her, muttering, "I need a word." He grasped her elbow and towed her behind the nearest corner. "What was all of that about?" he fumed. "It was only going to take three seconds to put him in his place and then you wouldn't have had another essay to write! Why did you stop me?"

Even as she was pulling her arm up and out of his grip, Cari smiled. "And how do you think that would have realistically gone? He would have sent both of us to Fleet's office, and there isn't much she could do but give us detention."

The best thing about Lionel's ultra-expressive face was the ability to watch his emotions. Cari observed as he processed her words, tried to think of ways to argue, came to terms with her message, and rebelled at the underlying idea. "It's not fair, though!"

Cari lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "And? Not everything is going to be fair. Aren't you going to be a Lawyer?" She put a teasing tone into her voice, trying to lighten the serious conversation.

It didn't work. Lionel still looked frustrated beyond words and it showed when he spoke. "Yeah, a Lawyer who's going to fight for things to be fair! Cari, you can't just sit by when he's doing everything he can to make your life miserable."

Sighing, Cari tried to think of a way to phrase what she was feeling. "There are some people in life that you can fight with. You can disagree with them and they'll listen to you enough to change their mind about something. But then there are other people who are so set in the way they think that it's honestly a million times easier to just stay quiet and put up with them. You bite your tongue, keep your head down, and hope that you don't have to deal with them for much longer. Professor Garbin is the second kind of person. He hates me and that isn't going to change. Fighting with him won't make it any better and he's not going to wake up one day thinking that I'm his favorite student. All I have to do is make it to the end of this year and then I can drop the class. Until then, I'm trying not to rock the boat."

"But it's wrong! You don't deserve to be treated like that from someone who's supposed to be an unbiased educator."

"Lionel, of all the teachers I've met here at Echowick, one of them doesn't like me. Those are pretty good odds. No, he's not right to be treating a student this way, but better me who can take it than someone else who would go back to the dorms and kill themselves because they got assigned an essay for the fourth day in a row."

"Or," he said, using what she recognized as his 'persuasive' voice, "you could let me talk to Garbin and no one has to write essays."

"More like, I let you talk to Garbin and we all have to write essays." She laughed at his miffed expression. "Face it: The future Lawyer was out-reasoned by a future Broomsmith." Cari paused, considering for a moment. "Though I am sorry Kimber choked you with your own robes. That was sort of an accident."

He grimaced, rubbing his throat. "That was pretty unpleasant. And to think, Garbin almost gave you another essay because of it! That guy ticks me off so badly!"

As Lionel devolved into angry grumbling, Cari couldn't stifle her smile. "Lionel, calm down! It's an essay, known around the world for being non-lethal - at least, in most cases. Why does it bother you so badly?"

"Because they're a waste of time! There are so many other things you could be doing, but instead, you're stuck in your room writing essays to make up for something you didn't even do wrong. And he knows it! He's stealing you from your life, your friends."

That particular complaint hit close to home. Cari had tried to keep from complaining, but she was hip-deep in schoolwork and sinking fast. Still, she waved it off. "They really don't take that long to write. Besides, I have plenty of time for you guys."

"Really?" Lionel raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that why we've never hung out?"

Cari's mouth dropped open. "'Never'? We hang out all of the time!"

"No, just you and me." As she furrowed brows at him, Lionel reached out and snagged her hand. "That's one small reason out of many that you should stand up to Garbin: all that wasted time would be far better spent with me."

Suddenly uncomfortably flustered, Cari opened her mouth before she realized that she didn't know what to say. It was a mixed blessing, then, when Shadow peeked around the corner. "Cari? Are you over here?" His eyes dropped to their clasped hands and his expression hardened. "Come on, you're going to be late. You know Fleet's a stickler for students being on time."

Cari nodded and looked back to Lionel. He smiled warmly, gave the shadow of a wink, and gently released her hand. Cari smiled back briefly before turning to speed-walk down the hallway behind Shadow, who had apparently turned into a track star when she wasn't looking.

* * *

The next day, Cari was exhausted. She had finished all of her homework, but doing so had meant that she was awake into the early morning. She didn't know exactly how much sleep she had gotten, but it was not enough. She handed in her essay to Professor Garbin, watched the teacher incinerate it, and somehow avoided being assigned another one. To top things off, it was Thursday, which meant that she wouldn't have to see her least-favorite professor for three whole days! Things were looking up.

Well, some things were. Cari couldn't look Lionel in the face after the odd moment in the hallway yesterday. She didn't know what to make of it, though she had thought about the conversation a lot, analyzing from every angle. Meanwhile, if Shadow's attitude toward her was any frostier, she would turn into an ice sculpture. Cari shook herself. She didn't have time to deal with the oddities of her friends. There were more important things to focus on right now.

Mr. Kreer had decided that today was a good day to have the students try building a fire again. Cari stared at the small pile of kindling sitting in front of her, but couldn't quite manage to pull her mind away from the snarls of her social life. In fact, thoughts kept swirling, faster and faster until she was sure she would never extricate herself from the tangles…

A small jet of flame shot from where her hand lay on the desk, instantly lighting the kindling. Cari hurriedly pushed her chair back, removing her face from the immediate vicinity of the growing flames. The entire class had paused in their own efforts to watch the fire burning on her desk. Cari couldn't help but to smile a bit. _Finally, something is going in my favor!_

"Very good, Miss Romana," Mr. Kreer congratulated her, but before she could thank him, he Vanished the smoldering ashes from her desk and plunked down another bundle of kindling. "Here, keep practicing _non-magical_ fire-building on this."

The emphasis on 'non-magical' had been slight enough to pass unnoticed by Cari's classmates, but still undeniably present. The professor had obviously seen what had really happened. Cari nodded and turned back to her desk, hoping that the other students would think the redness in her cheeks was due to the excitement and near proximity to fire.

By the end of the class, Cari's second set of kindling was completely un-singed. Professor Kreer told the students to clean up their desks and then dismissed them to lunch, except for Cari, who he asked to stay behind for a moment. Nervously, Cari waited for the room to clear. _Am I going to get in trouble for cheating? It wasn't on purpose! Will he believe me?_

"Cari, you seem stressed out. Is everything okay?"

It was so different from what Cari had been expecting that she could only stare blankly at the professor for a minute before answering. "Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, either something is wrong or you're getting remarkably skilled at non-verbal spells." Kreer smiled to soften the words and perched on the edge of his desk. "If you don't talk about it, you might shoot more fire from your hands. What if next time is when you're in bed?"

"It's really nothing, sir. I'm just a little on edge." Kreer raised an eyebrow, silently encouraging her. "This is a busy year, you know. Lots of schoolwork…" She sighed. "And I've been fighting with my friends. That isn't helping anything, I guess."

"Can I ask why you guys are fighting? Maybe it's something that can be worked out easier from an outside perspective."

"I'm not really sure. I think Lionel was flirting with me yesterday-"

Mr. Kreer winced sharply and she cut off, staring at him. He shook his head, "Girl stuff. Sorry, wasn't expecting that for some reason. I might not be the best one to help you with this, Cari. I mean, if you really don't have a choice, I'll bite the bullet, but nothing I can say is likely to help you here. I'm sorry I can't be more of a help to you."

Cari smiled at her favorite teacher. "It's okay. It means a lot that you tried, but you're fine. I think I have a couple of other people to talk with, so I won't force you. Thanks for checking up on me, though."

He grinned beneath his beard. "No problem. Now, go to lunch. How are you going to have enough energy to moon over boys if you don't eat?"

"I do not moon!"

"Maybe not yet, but if you're setting things on fire, I would say that you're off to a fairly serious start."

That was surprisingly hard to argue, so Cari didn't bother.

* * *

After classes finished for the day, Cari retreated to the library. There was plenty of homework for her to get a head start on before the weekend, especially since she really only had Saturdays to work and study. Unfortunately, she had only started on her second assignment for Transfiguration when she closed her eyes for a moment and ended up taking a short nap, head resting comfortably on the reference book lying open in front of her.

Eventually, Mrs. Helen the Librarian woke her up and told her that it was time for dinner. Cari argued as politely as her groggy brain was capable of, insisting that she needed to put away the books she had pulled from the shelves. Helen managed to out-stubborn Cari, nearly pushing her out of the library before the second-year gave up and began dragging herself to the cafeteria.

Since curfew was fast-approaching, the cafeteria was emptying out when Cari finally made it to the table. Her end basically consisted of Shadow, Lionel, and herself. Not ready to deal with the male drama, Cari almost left the cafeteria as soon as she entered it, but her stomach was beginning to wake up with a vengeance.

She sat down unceremoniously, eyes trained only on the meatloaf she deposited on her plate along with a healthy scoop of mashed potatoes. Trying to ignore the exclamations of, "Cari!" she began to eat rapidly. _The faster I eat, the faster I get to go to bed._

Suddenly, there was a hand much too close to her face. Reflexively, she stabbed it with her fork and it disappeared. When she could pull her focus back to the table as a whole, she could see that Shadow, cradling his hand, was staring at her. "Did you need something?" she asked, voice less than pleasant.

"What is your problem? I've been asking where you were for the past two minutes and you didn't even look like you heard me," Shadow's mood obviously hadn't improved, either.

"Because I didn't," she snapped back. "I've been in the library, trying to get a head start on homework." And sleeping, but he didn't need to know that part.

"I thought that's what you did in the morning before classes, work on homework?"

"I do, but I have more homework than I have time to do it all." Cari looked toward Lionel, waiting for the inevitable, 'told you so', but he was just nodding sympathetically.

Shadow opened his mouth, probably to say something nasty, but Lionel cut him off. "You know, I've always found mornings to be the worst time to do homework. Maybe you should try sleeping a little later and staying up to work instead. The information is all fresh since you just learned it that day. Besides," he said with a little smile, "If you stay up later, you can come work on homework with me."

"And how would she do that?" Shadow asked, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Curfew is coming up and then we'll all be stuck in our rooms. Little hard to hang out with someone who's in a room in another Wing."

"It's okay, I'm friends with my Wing Leader. He says it's fine if I stay out late, as long as I'm just in the Student lounge. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I brought a friend," he winked at her and stood. "Think about it, Cari. Good night, all."

Shadow barely waited until Lionel was out of earshot before bursting out, "What is that guy's problem? And why do you let him talk to you that way?"

Startled by the switch in topics, Cari could only open and close her mouth until she found her voice. "I don't see why my friendship with Lionel is any of your business!" she sputtered finally.

"Friendship? Yeah, I'm so sure it's friendship he's after. Grow up, Romana."

Cari glared at Shadow. "You need to cool it with the tone and the sarcasm if you want this conversation to continue."

"Maybe I don't want it to continue at all! If Lionel's so great, why don't you go talk with him?"

"That doesn't make any sense, Shadow! I was trying to have a nice conversation with Lionel, but you kept interrupting."

"Well, I have the answer to that: I'll just stop talking to you at all!" Shadow's dramatic, hurtful declaration echoed in the cafeteria as he stormed out. Aware that they had attracted the attention of the remaining people in the cafeteria, Cari kept her face carefully blank as she finished her meal alone. _Two fights with Shadow this year already,_ she mused privately. _Maybe having guy friends is more trouble than it's worth..._

When Cari got back to the dorms, Spode was starting his second-year rounds at Shadow and Eric's apartment. He nodded to Cari, who returned the gesture before letting herself into the apartment. She was one minute before curfew, cutting it close, but at least she knew Spode was punctual about some things.

Walking into her room, Cari could have sworn that her bed was literally pulling her to it like a magnet, but Lydia was still awake and, as always, wanted to chat. "Hey, we missed you at dinner." Cari didn't respond. "I heard Shadow's pretty angry at you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure? Because he wouldn't tell us why he was so upset and we're dying of curiosity."

"I said- wait, 'we'? Who is we?"

"You know, Tessa, Kimber, Jael, Willa, and I. The girls."

"Oh. I still don't want to talk about it."

"Come on! I tell you everything. It would be nice if, just this once, you would actually open up about your life and-"

"Okay! He's mad because Lionel was flirting with me in the hallway yesterday and I won't tell him to leave me alone."

"Well, you can't keep stringing them both along!"

That brought Cari out from her expanded chest-slash-wardrobe. "Stringin- I'm not stringing anyone along! At the moment, I'm just trying not to flunk out of my classes!"

"If you don't tell them to leave you alone, it kind of counts as stringing them along. You're making sure they stay focused on you, that they don't look at other girls and it isn't fair! You're not even pretty!" A horrified look flashed onto Lydia's face as she realized what she had just said. "I'm so sorry, Cari! I didn't mean that."

Cari only listened to her roommate's stammered apologies for half a second before she grabbed her pajamas and slammed the wardrobe shut. "I need to change," she said shortly, shutting the bedroom door behind her on the way to the bathroom. Locked inside, she spent a solid half hour perched on the edge of the tub, trying not to cry.

With a creative maneuvering of mealtimes and a lot of time spent at the library, Cari managed to avoid seeing everyone in her social group. It wasn't until Sunday night that she came back from broom care/Quidditch lessons and found a note in Lydia's handwriting resting on her pillow.

 _Cari,  
I cannot apologize enough for what I said on Thursday night. I feel terribly about it, and while there is no excuse for my words, I feel you deserve an explanation: I have had a crush on Lionel for a while and I've been trying to drop hints about him asking me out. He hasn't been responding like I had hoped he would and when you said he had been flirting with you, I realized why. My feelings were hurt and my pride was injured, so I lashed out on reflex.  
I truly didn't mean what I said. I think you're beautiful and a good person to boot. You haven't been at meals lately, but we –Shadow and I both – would love to have breakfast with you tomorrow morning if you feel you can forgive us. (I forgot to write earlier that Shadow says he's sorry, too, but would rather say so in person.) Anyway, 7:00?  
Your petty, rash, unthinking roommate,  
Lydia_

Cari smiled as she read it and then looked over at Lydia's bed. "I can tell you're still awake. I forgive you."

Lydia jumped out of bed squealing and gave Cari a tight hug.

* * *

Author's Note \- Well, happy December, everyone! If you haven't already been bombarded by Christmas stuff, get ready. It's time. So, sorry for the longer chapter, but it kind of morphed into a lot of plot with no good place to split it up. Hope it wasn't too overwhelming! Big thank-you to HarryPotterFanHermione for the review. I hope school isn't being too painful! Hang in there! If anyone wants to leave a review, each one is treasured, but no pressure. Enjoy your day and all the magic it brings you!


	26. Lapses

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ As if this needs to be stated once more, I am not the owner, creator, or rights-holder _Harry Potter_ or any related series or franchises. The person you're looking for would be one J.K. Rowling. Sadly, I am but a fan with a few ideas of my own...

* * *

Lapses

By mid-October, Cari was so busy that she could hardly breathe. Classes were kept taking up more and more time as the homework amounts kept rising. Any spare time she had went to studying the rules of Quidditch, common moves, famous games…. It seemed like there was always something Professor Gregory brought up that she didn't know anything about.

Her lessons on Fridays had shifted from learning about Broomsmithery to focusing completely on Quidditch. The professor and both of her classmates knew an impressive amount about the sport, so they would alternate between teaching her new information and quizzing her about things she should already know. Professor Fleet had told them that the brooms wouldn't need to be checked until just before the first game. Without a stack of brooms to service, and since Asher and Ransom were both so far ahead on their final projects, there was plenty of time to study the wizarding world's favorite sport.

To make things even more stressful for Cari, Pitt had come up with another way to be irritating. Any time she was in the halls, standing, walking, entering or exiting a classroom, Pitt would be there, pretending to hold a Beater's bat. He would take aim, lining up his shot just as she had seen Muggle men do while pretending to practice a golf swing. Without a doubt, Pitt was going to be gunning for her on the day of the first game.

Until then, she wasn't going to worry about the bullying older boy. He was irritating, but she was in far more danger of failing out of Echowick than she was of being attacked by another student. _How things have changed in a year…_ she mused. A year ago, she had scurried around the school, keeping a constant watch behind herself, wary of the bullies she had been right to fear. Now, she strode through the school with a purpose, always on the way to another class or study session. Lately, Cari had noticed people actively moving out of her way. It was an odd change, but one she kind of enjoyed.

Classes, for all of their extra work, were at least growing more interesting. True to her word, Professor Brunn did have them making potions that more thrilling than Sleeping Draughts and Pepper-Up Potions. This week, they were starting work on a new brew, Forgetfulness Potion. The students walked in the room excited. All of the prep work had been completed on the day before, so they already knew the ingredients, brewing requirements, and uses of the completed potion. As Professor Brunn had taught them to do over the past year, the class had gathered the ingredients needed to make the potion. Everything was ready for the brewing to start today.

"Ahh…" Professor Brunn sighed from the front of the room, a smile gracing her delicate features. "Students eager to learn. That sound is music to any educator's ears." The students dropped their conversations immediately so they wouldn't miss her permission to begin brewing. Brunn's smiled widened, her black eyes sparkling. "Let's jump right in, then. Go ahead and light the fires. Allow them to grow for a minute or two, then you may begin brewing."

Fortunately, Forgetfulness Potion took a relatively short amount of time to brew. Five and a half minutes, to be exact, if one had a brass cauldron like Cari's. She and Lydia were sharing a work station and built the base for the potion together, taking turns stirring the mixture until it was ready. Professor Brunn was already making her rounds to check the students' work, so they simply sat quietly, stirring the contents of the cauldron occasionally as they waited.

She had just stood to stir the calmly bubbling potion when Duncan Jones stumbled by. Duncan was Chayton's roommate, a student in the field of Magical Photography. Cari had never had a complete conversation with the boy, but knew him enough to say hi when she passed him in the halls. Extremely short for their age, Duncan was constantly in trouble for his slightly too-long robes. Fleet had warned him multiple times to have them hemmed as they were a tripping hazard. He hadn't listened, and Fleet's words turned out to be prophetic. Duncan's foot caught on the front hem of his robes and he tripped, catching himself on Cari and Lydia's station, but knocking the cauldron off balance.

The cauldron was warded with anti-burn spells of course, so when Cari caught it, there was no real damage to her hands, though most of the potion spilled out onto her clothing. Professor Brunn, attention attracted by the noise, hurried over. "Miss Romana, remove your outer robes now. Quickly!"

Though her brow crinkled questioningly, Cari obediently began to pull the black robes over her head, but slowed halfway through the motion. _Why am I taking my robes off in the middle of class? Why are they wet? I can't see anything. Why am I taking my robes off in the middle of class?_ She lowered her robes once again, trying to ignore the dampness. _Why are my robes wet?_

The entire class was staring at her, including the professor. Cari blushed. "I'm sorry, did you say something Professor… Professor…" She stared at the floor, trying to remember what she had been trying to remember. Duncan, standing on the other side of the desk, was apologizing over and over. "I'm sorry," she said pleasantly. "Why are you apologizing?"

The woman with dark eyes looked concerned. "Forgetfulness Potion can be consumed or applied topically. As you can see, the effect is just as strong when the potion is spread across the skin."

"I'm sorry, the effects of what?"

"Cari!" a boy with bright blue eyes leaned across his desk, staring at her worriedly. "Is there anything you can do, Professor?" He didn't look familiar, but it was nice of the strange boy to be so worried about her.

The dark-eyed woman sighed and Cari tried to remember how she had disappointed her so badly. "Her skin obviously absorbed a great deal of the potion. I believe this is going to need some help from Doctor Combes. Miss Abrams," she said, looking at a girl with dark, curly hair standing next to Cari. "Will you please escort Miss Romana to the Hospital Building? Be sure that she doesn't get into trouble. Mr. Jones here will be happy to pack up what's left of your potion and clean your cauldron."

The girl nodded and turned to Cari expectantly. Still a little confused, Cari smiled agreeably. "I'm sorry; I don't think we've met. I'm Cari."

She looked worried, not answering. She took a firm grasp of Cari's elbow and began pulling her from the room. Cari followed obediently, staring at her surroundings. Stone walls soared upward to meet a high ceiling and it wasn't until they walked up a flight of stairs that she realized they must have been underground. After a short trip through a large room that smelled absolutely amazing, Cari and the unnamed girl were standing outside.

The air was crisp, with just a hint of chill, but the grass was still a vivid green, covering rolling hills. "Wow," she sighed, and the girl looked at her questioningly. "It's beautiful out here!" The girl led on in silence. Soon, they were standing outside of a large building made of gray stone. "This looks like an interesting place."

When they walked inside, the building was light and airy, sunshine streaming in through large windows. A man with dark hair and light eyes came walking up to her, smiling welcomingly. "Miss Romana! I was starting to think I wouldn't see you at all this year."

She smiled back. "I'm sorry, have we met before? I'm afraid I don't remember your name at the moment."

His dark brows drew together as the man said slowly, "I'm Doctor Combes."

"Doctor?" Cari looked over at the girl who had brought her. "Am I sick?"

The man took on a look of understanding. "Forgetfulness Potion?" The girl nodded and he began rummaging through a cabinet, eventually drawing out a small glass and a large brown vial. "How much did she ingest?" He began pouring even as he asked the question.

"None; that's the thing. It spilled on her and Professor Brunn said it must have absorbed straight into her skin."

The man dumped the clear, thick liquid back into the brown vial. "Well, unfortunately, there's nothing we can do until it wears off. If it was ingested, I could have given her the antidote, but there's no way of measuring how much soaked into her skin." He put the items back into the cabinet and straightened. "You may return to class, Miss Abrams. I will keep Miss Romana here until she recovers." The girl looked hesitant and he smiled soothingly. "It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours and there will be no lingering ill effects. The best thing we can do is keep her comfortable."

The girl smiled and left the building, leaving Cari with the man. "Miss Romana?" Cari looked over at him and he gave a warm smile. "All right, that's a good start. Follow me please?" He led her over to a bed, helped her remove her shoes, and settled her down, asking a series of questions all the while. When he had finished, he said, "If you want to take a nap, I'll come to wake you up in a little while."

Cari thanked him, settled down on the bed, and drifted off, only briefly wondering where she was and who this man could be.

When she was woken a short while later, Cari sat up with a start. _When did I go to sleep? Am I in the Hospital Building? Who just touched me?_ She whipped around, searching until she found a dark-haired man sitting at her bedside. It took a moment, then... "Dad?"

"Hey, Cari."

She rubbed her forehead, searching for any hint to what could possibly be going on. "Do you know what I'm doing here? I- I can't seem to remember…"

He leaned forward. "Do you remember anything about your Potions class today?"

"Um… we were supposed to start brewing Forgetfulness Potions today." Putting the pieces together, she asked, "Is that what happened? I accidentally took some of it?"

"No, it spilled on you. Doctor Combes has been checking your memory periodically over the past few hours and says it's returning at quite a normal rate, though you might never remember the accident or the immediate aftermath."

She nodded and glanced around. "Am I free to go, then?"

"I have to go through our questions one more time, Miss Romana, and then we shall see." Cari smiled at the approaching Doctor Combes, who started off with the ever-classic, "What year is it?"

"2007," she said with confidence. He nodded and moved on. With every question she was able to answer correctly, her confidence grew.

Doctor Combes shut the file he was holding with a snap. "All right, Miss Romana. It seems your memory has made a full recovery. You may go…" he checked his watch. "Classes have actually just let out, so if you want to go find your friends before they storm my hospital, that would be wonderful." She must have looked confused, as he explained, "Several of them have been caught trying to skip class so they can come and see you. I would guess that we have less than five minutes before they descend on us all." He smiled to take the sting from his words, but Cari stood anyway.

Outside the Hospital Building, Daniel gave her a quick hug. "Since the excitement seems to be over, I'm going to go back to work for the last few hours of my shift. I'm glad you're okay, honey."

"Thanks, Dad. It was good to see you."

"Good to see you, too." He smiled wryly. "Thanks for letting me be there for this one." She laughed as he walked off toward the golf cart sitting nearby.

When she got back to the Physical Wing, she went straight to the Student lounge. Predictably, everyone was there playing Exploding Snap with the new deck of cards Kimber had gotten from her parents. "Cari!" Lydia squeaked, patting an empty cushion on the couch next to her. Cari sat down.

"Welcome back," Jael said, sitting cross-legged on the floor nearby. "We all heard what happened. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Cari said offhandedly. "Combes said I'll be fine, but I may never remember the accident or the trip to the Hospital Building. By the way," she added, turning to Lydia, "Thank you for taking me over there. Doctor Combes said you were the one who brought me."

Lydia smiled uncomfortably. "Don't mention it. Please." She cleared her throat. "It was weird, seeing you being… not yourself. You were very polite, though."

"Polite?"

Shadow burst out laughing. "You apologized after forgetting Professor Brunn's name, then asked Duncan why he was apologizing. You also introduced yourself to Lydia. It was pretty entertaining." He paused to tap the newest card, winning a decisive victory over Chayton, who sat back against the wall muttering as Willa and Fletchmeister started another round. "You missed nearly a full day of classes, though. Good job."

Chayton scowled, scooting back into the circle of people. "I like that you skip over your own horrified concern. And it's all because of that idiot Jones. He's a menace to society. For Merlin's sake, he's nearly burnt down our room a couple of times now because he thinks _Incendio_ and _Lumos_ are the same thing!"

Everyone laughed at this, but Cari could see that Chayton was being totally serious. "Don't be mad at Duncan on my account. It was an accident, anyone could see that."

Snorting, Chayton said, "I don't hate him because he dumped Forgetfulness Potion on you." Kimber, sitting next to him, punched him solidly on the shoulder and he flinched, rubbing the spot. "Ouch! I'm not saying it was a good thing that happened! I'm just saying that the reason I hate Duncan Jones is that he's a lazy, witless moron who doesn't work hard enough to be worth the space he takes up so much of."

"Wow, Chayton," Eric said. "Tell us, how do you get along with your roommate?"

Any developing argument was cut short by a small explosion and a string of swear words from Fletchmeister. Everyone looked at the game, which had now turned into a small pile of black ash flanked by Willa and Fletchmeister, both red under a light coating of ash. "Sorry," Fletchmeister explained. "We got a little distracted by the discussion and… well…" He trailed off and looked across the circle. "Sorry, Kimber."

Kimber shrugged, smiling. "Not a problem, but it's your turn to buy the next pack!"

Fletch groaned exaggeratedly and stood. "I guess that's fair. I'm going to wash my face and I'm going to the cafeteria. I'm starving!" In time, they all followed.

Discussion at the table was lively that night. The topic was, as was normal around this time of year, Quidditch. As one of the few second-years on a Wing Quidditch team, Shadow was talking loudly, insisting that no one else knew as much as he did. Obviously, no one accepted this as being valid.

"Shadow! Are you seriously going to keep fighting about this?" Lionel demanded. "The odds are completely stacked against the Physical team. You don't have a prayer of beating the Academics Wing."

Toby chimed in, "The physical and mathematical laws of flight, even magical flight, are against the odds of your Seeker being victorious."

Shadow waved this away. "Have you seen our Seeker? He's brilliant. We'll win for sure." He spoke loudly to be heard over the protests. "Speaking of seeing, since none of you are on any of the opposing teams, you can come watch me practice if you want. We have an open practice this Saturday from eight in the morning until noon."

All animosity was forgotten as the second-years rapidly agreed to go. None of them had ever seen a real, live Quidditch practice before, and thought it sounded fascinating. _It'll be a good time for me to practice watching a game with actual players,_ Cari thought privately. She had been worried lately about whether she would be able to tell what was going on with fourteen people in the air. That was rather a lot of stuff for one person to watch, even if they did know all of the rules.

Just before the group headed back to the dorms for their customary pre-Astronomy nap, Professor Brunn stopped by the table. "Miss Romana, I wanted to return this to you." Cari turned to find Brunn behind her, holding the brass cauldron she had left behind that morning.

"Oh! I guess I didn't realize it was gone."

"Lingering aftereffects of the potion, I'm sure," Professor Brunn replied, waving away Cari's thanks. "While I'm here, I will go ahead and tell you and Miss Abrams that your potion received a perfect score. Which probably shouldn't be a surprise. Miss Romana, I apologize once again on Mr. Jones' behalf. It was truly and accident and I hope you don't harbor any resentment towards him."

Tactfully ignoring the loud snort from Chayton, Cari shook her head. "I have no problem with Duncan, Professor. After all, I can't even remember what happened!" She laughed and the teacher bid them a good night.

"All the same, Romana, if you decide you hate Jones and want me to beat him to pieces, all I need is an excuse and an alibi." Cari rolled her eyes at Chayton's not-entirely-joking offer and went to catch a nap.

A quarter to eight in the morning on the next Saturday found everyone walking up to the Quidditch pitch. The group was chatting among themselves, half ready to experience some of the excitement of a Quidditch game, half wanting to see Shadow embarrass himself after all of the bragging the day before.

As they walked along the path through the woods, Cari noticed a silhouette ahead, unfolding itself from where it had been leaning against a tree trunk. They neared and the silhouette gained color and texture, distinguishing itself from the dim surroundings. It was Headmistress Fleet.

"Good morning, students," she greeted. Her friendly look dropped into one of shock. "Miss Romana? What are you doing here?"

Ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Cari said, "Shadow invited us to come and watch the open Quidditch practice today. I want to support my friend and my Wing, you know?"

"Excuse us for a moment, will you?" Professor Fleet asked the group as she pulled Cari off to one side of the path. "Miss Romana, didn't we discuss this?"

Cari racked her brain, worried that she would have once again forgotten something – though she had managed to remember everything except the accident and immediate aftermath – but could think of nothing. "I'm sorry, Professor Fleet. Did we? I don't remember us talking about anything that would be relevant here."

Fleet looked sheepish, though the expression was rare enough for her that it took Cari a moment to recognize it. "Ah. My apologies, Miss Romana, I did mean to speak to you about this before now. You cannot attend any Quidditch practices, open or secret." Cari stared blankly at the Headmistress. Professor Fleet shook her head. "I'm sorry; I wish it didn't have to be this way. With you acting as a student referee, there simply cannot be any reasons for someone to accuse you of having a bias. There are some who say that you won't be able to be unbiased. For that reason, they believe that we shouldn't have a student referee or we should have one from each Wing. You really are the perfect choice for the job, and if pressed, the school would have to cut your position completely rather than attempt to train students from other disciplines, pulling them from their studies with no relevance to their future careers." As though realizing she had started to ramble, Fleet cut off sharply.

Cari wanted to argue, but everything the Headmistress said made perfect sense, though in a very uptight way. She let her shoulders slump. "Okay, so how far do I need to stay from anything Quidditch?"

"Not extremely," the woman said with a slightly relieved look in her eyes. Apparently, she had been expecting Cari to fight. "You can still be friends with whomever, talk about the game, favorite players, what have you. The things you can't discuss are the ones that most Captains don't want their players discussing anyway: specific moves, strategies for winning, that kind of thing. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. It just bugs me that I can't hang out with the rest of my friends."

Professor Fleet rested a gentle hand on Cari's shoulder. "It's not always fun, having responsibilities. For what it's worth, you wear yours very well."

Cari smiled at the Headmistress and walked back to her curiously waiting friends. "Sorry, guys. I guess I'm not allowed to watch the team practice. Violation of my impartiality as a referee-in-training."

There were outbursts and grumbles, but everyone seemed understanding. "Don't worry, Cari," Lydia comforted. "I'll come back with you and we can start planning out this year's Halloween party."

"No, that's okay," Cari said hastily. "I have some homework to work on before tomorrow anyway. Have fun. Mock Shadow for me!" Everyone eagerly agreed to that and Cari returned to the school alone. _A day of homework by myself, followed by hours of people talking about a practice that I wasn't allowed to attend. Fantastic. At least I'm not helping Lydia plan a party._ Comforted with that, Cari reached her room and dug into the work she had left to finish.

Hours later, Cari sat at the dinner table listening to everyone rave about the Quidditch practice. "Seriously, Cari," Fletchmeister exclaimed, "You should have seen it! I've been to a lot of Quidditch games in my life, but I seriously think Shadow is one of the best Chasers I've ever watched play!"

Cari nodded politely, internally praying for a change of topic, but it seemed that was unlikely to happen. "Much as I hate to admit it, Fletch is right," Chayton agreed. "Not that Shadow needs to be any cockier than he already is, but the kid is good."

Much as it sucked to not be there in support of her friend, Cari knew deep down that there was an upside to not being able to attend practices: If Shadow was as good at Quidditch as everyone said he was, it was only a matter of time before he was too cool to be around losers like them. After all, the first game of the season was less than a month away. _Might as well start getting some distance now so it'll hurt less later,_ Cari thought resignedly.

Apparently having a rare, sensitive-to-others'-moods day, Lydia shifted in her seat next to Cari. "Okay, okay, Shadow's amazing. What do you guys think we should do for Halloween?"

Tessa shrugged. "The same thing we did last year? I had fun."

There was a general murmur of agreement, but Lydia looked horrified. "We can't do the same thing two years in a row!"

"Why not?" Eric asked. "We all had fun. A ton of the third-years have been asking me if we're doing it again and wanting to be invited. Obviously, it was a success. If it ain't broke…"

Lydia seized Eric's arm in a grip that looked painful. "Were people really asking about it?"

"Yeah, they were. Third-years, second-years, and even a few upperclassmen. Will you let go of me now?"

Turning to the group, an ecstatic look on her face, Lydia cried, "We're having another movie-costume contest party!"

"Not exactly catchy, is it?" Chayton muttered, grunting as Kimber elbowed him.

* * *

Author's Note \- So, what did you think? The Forgetfulness Potion section is one of my favorite things I've ever written and I hope you enjoyed it, too! Now on to the more serious part: Sadly, my readers, it is time. For the next two weeks, I will only be posting once per week instead of twice. My apologies, but I am trying to line up at least the Christmas chapter to actual Christmas time. We're moving right along, though! Coming up to Halloween of Cari's second year, which means we're getting closer all the time to The Big Stuff. Oh, I'm so excited for you to know about it! Anyway, that's all I have for right now. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week!


	27. Halloween

**Adventures at Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials. The original characters and the setting of Echowick are all I own. I do not profit from the writing or publishing of this story, etc.

* * *

Halloween

Cari's head was pounding, her stomach churned. She felt dizzy, sick, terrified, and angry all at once. The room was hot, too hot. She closed her eyes for a moment, wishing with fervent desperation to be anywhere else.

"You don't look so good, Cari," Lionel remarked, settling on the couch next to her.

She groaned, opening her eyes reluctantly. "I hate parties," she groaned.

"Me too," Willa said, sitting on the floor in front of Cari's spot. "And this is a huge party. But Lydia worked really hard on it, so we can't just sneak out."

It was like the girl knew what Cari was thinking. "I know," she sighed, looking around at the interior of the Physical Wing student lounge. It really did look great, and objectively Cari understood that it was a wonderful party, but she took no enjoyment from being here. Students were crammed into the room, packed from wall to orange and black crepe-papered wall. The music was loud, the food was delicious, and there was a bat flying around that Cari wasn't entirely sure was fake. For the Saturday before Halloween, with as many parties as there were going on, having this many people at a second-year celebration was a feat indeed. "At least the costumes are interesting to look at."

Willa nodded in agreement. Taking a quick glance at the crowd, Cari could pick out an Indiana Jones, two Zorros, a surprisingly realistic Shrek, and a Darth Vader whose respirator actually allowed him to speak like the famed villain.

"So, who do you think is going to win?" Shadow asked, popping up the mask of his Vader costume and speaking in his normal voice.

Jael, sitting in a nearby armchair, looked at him derisively. "I think you have way too much time on your hands if you feel the need to make stuff like that for a party put on by your friend."

Shadow nodded slowly, seeming to think over her words. "But who do you think is going to _win_?"

Cari rolled her eyes. "Fine, Shadow, we'll boost your ego. It looks like…" she trailed off as Shadow looked at her expectantly. She smiled, gaze caught by the crowd as she picked back up. "-It looks like you've just been shown up."

Someone dressed in an incredibly detailed astronaut suit was weaving slowly through the crowd. Even from some distance away, Cari could tell from their movements that the suit had been spelled to behave as though the wearer was in zero gravity. Bounding lightly along, Shadow's unknown competition made their way directly to where the group had gathered.

The inside of the astronaut's helmet was lit with a soft white light, and Cari found herself looking at a remarkably good imitation of Ellen Ripley from _Alien_. One hand slowly traveled to press a button on the chest of the suit and Kimber's voice greeted, "Hey, guys."

"Kimber?!" Shadow asked, voice a mixture of shock and disbelieve with just a tinge of anger.

"Fantastic costume," Willa complimented.

"Yeah, looks like you put a lot of work into it," Cari said, studying the detail up close. "I would have gone for her flight suit. Seems much easier."

Ripley/Kimber's eyebrow raised and her right hand drifted until it could press a small panel on her left bicep. With a flash, the space suit had faded away, leaving a perfect replica of Ripley in her flight suit. The same attention to detail had been observed. Every tie, zipper, and patch was in place. "Ah. Looks awesome!"

Lionel leaned forward, looking closely at Ripley/Kimber's left arm. "How did you get it to change like that?"

Ruffling short brown curls, she said, "There's a spell on it; a few of them, actually. The panel is bewitched to project the image of each costume. It's fastened on an armband and only needs to be pressed before it will activate."

Everyone murmured appreciatively. That was some heavy-duty magic and they all realized how much work must have gone into it. "Ha!" Shadow exclaimed suddenly. "If you didn't make the costumes yourself, they don't count as yours and you'll have to be disqualified from the contest."

Ripley/Kimber smiled. "I thought you would say that… Which is why I went to some of our professors and asked them to show me what to do and then let me perform the magic myself under their supervision. I am the one who completed every last spell on this costume, from the Anti-Gravity Charm to the hair spells." She eyed his respirator speculatively. "Can you say the same thing about your costume, Shadow?"

"How dare you- Rossi?" Shadow was staring into the crowd.

The group followed his gaze. Sure enough, Niccolo Rossi nodded at them and began walking in their direction. He reached the group, taking a sip from a can of soda held in his hand as he moved to lounge comfortably on the floor. "Hey, guys. How are you doing tonight?"

"Uh, we're fine," Cari replied politely before getting to her real question. "Niccolo, may I ask why you're here? This is a second-year party. Surely you have better upperclassman parties to go to?"

He shrugged. "I guess. Most of them don't start until later." He avoided eye contact and said quietly, "Besides, Arsenia is looking for me at those parties. She would never think to look for me at this one."

Shadow snorted loudly. "Man, everyone likes you better than her. You're older, stronger, and more popular. If you don't want her to be there, why don't you just tell her to go away?"

Studying the can of soda in his hand, Niccolo smiled slightly. "I don't want her around and I have no interest in being with her, obviously, but I can't just tell her to leave. It would embarrass her, affect her social standing. Besides, I don't want to hurt her feelings." He looked up quickly. "I mean, I've told her there will never be anything between us, so it's not like I'm leading her on." He shrugged. "Besides, I'm only at Echowick for a few more months until graduation. It's not going to kill me to put up with her until then."

Standing, Niccolo said, "I'm going to go grab a Cauldron Cake. Does anyone want anything while I'm over there?"

They mutely shook their heads and he smiled, ambling away. Jael was the first to break the silence with a low whistle. "I always knew Niccolo Rossi was a good-looking guy, but knowing that he's that sensitive about the feelings of a girl he doesn't like…" She groaned. "He's freaking perfect! Why does he waste himself on someone like Arsenic Aguilar?"

Laughing at Jael's nickname for the poisonous girl, Cari agreed, "He has got to be one of the nicest guys at Echowick. It's a shame he lets her take advantage of his kindness, but I understand where he's coming from."

"Guys!" Lydia exclaimed, skidding into the center of the gathered group. "Did you see that Niccolo Rossi is here? This party just went up by at least another five cool points."

Eric, perched on the edge of Jael's armchair, screwed his face up in an expression of confusion. "Cool points… Is that part of the metric system?"

Everyone chuckled at him, except Lydia, who rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I'm going to go count the votes for costume contest winner! We need to get the movie started soon if we want everyone to be gone before curfew."

"Hey," Shadow called after her, "When you announce me, just say 'Darth Vader'! I don't want to ruin the magic for my fans." He winked as everyone groaned.

"Do you guys pay attention to any of the news from overseas?" Fletchmeister asked, unexpectedly changing the topic. They all replied in the negative. Cari, for her part, was barely aware of news in this country, let alone in another. Fletchmeister continued anyway. "Well, I heard a rumor that Harry Potter just started at one of the European wizarding schools this year."

This declaration, uttered in a hushed and secretive tone, was met with roars of laughter. "Harry Potter is a myth, an urban legend!" Chayton said between bouts of snickers. "He was made up by the British Ministry of Magic to cover the fact that they have no idea what happened to Voldemort. There's no such person!"

Fletchmeister was flushed bright red, but kept talking regardless. "No, he's real! I have relatives who live in Britain and they said that the Potters were real people who belonged to a secret group fighting Voldemort and they really did have a son named Harry. Their house was the last place Voldemort was seen and all three of them disappeared when he did."

"Okay, Fletch," Willa said in a reasonable tone. "If all of them disappeared and Voldemort was such an untraceable wizard, how does anyone know that the last place he was seen was the Potter's house? It doesn't make sense."

"No, I swear! Why would so many people believe that Harry Potter is the one who finally killed Voldemort if there wasn't any kind of proof?"

Cari took pity on her excitable friend. "Calm down, Vertie. Psychologically speaking, if people were so afraid of Voldemort that they wouldn't even say his name, they could latch on to any explanation of him being vanquished, regardless of how likely it was to be true. I mean, the story of a little kid, not even a toddler, beating the most powerful evil wizard ever is pretty fantastic." Seeing that Fletchmeister was getting upset again, she cut him off. "Or there could be some truth to it. There's no way for us to know for sure. It is pretty interesting that the timeline matches up."

Slightly mollified, Fletchmeister calmed down a bit, though his color remained high. Lydia's magically-amplified voice echoed through the room. "Hello, everyone! If I haven't had the chance to speak to you personally, thank you for coming to our Halloween party. I have here the winner of the costume contest, the one who will choose the movie we're going to start in a few minutes." Clearing her throat, Lydia unfolded a slip of paper and read off dramatically, "And the winner is… Kimber Strickland as Ellen Ripley from _Alien_! Congratulations, Kimber!"

Ripley/Kimber stood, pressing the panel to make her space suit reappear. She leapt up in the air, and one arm rose victoriously, clutching a DVD. She landed softly, welcomed by an enthusiastically cheering crowd. Only minutes later, everyone sat in various places around the small room as they watched the 1979 horror movie, some of them for the first time, projected on a blank wall in the room. Cari sighed contentedly as she settled deeper into her couch. _These are the times I live for_ , she thought as the first facehugger appeared amidst an impressive number of screams.

The Halloween party was fun, but the week between it and the Quidditch game was longest one Cari had ever experienced. She had gotten up early on Sunday, bleary-eyed and pale, but she had made it to the Quidditch field on time. Professor Gregory was waiting for her, smiling far too brightly for nine o'clock in the morning.

"Good morning, Miss Romana!" She merely grunted in return to the greeting, but he was undaunted. "I hope you're ready. We have something special planned for today!"

 _We? That's a new one. But I don't see anyone else around here…_ She looked at Professor Gregory questioningly, but he just smiled and let out two short bursts on the whistle he wore around his neck. All of a sudden, players began to swoop onto the field, half wearing white jerseys and half in black.

"What the heck?" Cari whispered to herself. Half of the Echowick teachers seemed to be on the field, riding broomsticks as naturally as any player she had ever seen before.

"Team Captains to me!" Gregory shouted after another long blast on the whistle. Cari stared. She had never heard the professor sound anything but mild-mannered and polite, but he was currently using the kind of voice a drill sergeant would be proud of. Two of the players swooped down to hover in front of Gregory and Cari. Professor Fleet wore black and Professor Tallet was in white, both grinning widely at Cari's continued shock.

"Miss Romana and I will be flying around, circling the game as we watch for fouls. Please play at a normal rate; don't slow down to accommodate us. And try not to hurt anyone." Cari would have never believed that fully-grown professors could wear smiles that fit the description of 'evil', but the feuding administration members certainly did it admirably as they flew away to speak to their teams on opposite ends of the air above the Pitch.

Professor Gregory handed a broom to Cari. "Headmistress Fleet explained to me that you weren't able to watch your team practice this past week. One of the other professors suggested this as a way to give you some pre-match experience."

"It's a great idea!" Cari said, watching the professors listening intently to their team captains. "Can I ask who thought of it?"

In a dry tone, Gregory simply answered, "I'm surprised you even have to ask."

She scanned the teams carefully once more. One face on Fleet's team stood out and she looked closer just in time to catch Mr. Kreer's smiling salute. Cari laughed aloud. "Ah. Okay."

She and Professor Gregory kicked off and began circling the pitch. With a long screech from the whistle, the teams began to play. Mr. Kreer was a very expressive Beater and would often shout random nonsense as he hit a Bludger, making Cari laugh helplessly. Professor Brunn, playing for her sister's team, proved to be a very talented Chaser, and ended up scoring a majority of Team Tallet's points.

There was a lot more to being a referee than following the game, as it turned out. Cari rapidly found herself becoming completely absorbed trying to keep track of all of the fouls both teams were accumulating. Shockingly, the team captains were by far the worst about fouling and denying whatever had happened when they were caught. Thankfully, Professor Perez turned out to be an extremely adept Seeker and the game was brought to a timely end.

Everyone touched down and shook hands among good-natured complaints of cheating and favoritism. "Miss Romana, you did very well," the Headmistress congratulated. "Even if you were clearly favoring Professor Tallet's team the entire game."

The Captain of the team in question stepped forward, open-mouthed. "Favoring _us?_ I beg your pardon, who did she let get away with smacking one of the Chasers in the knee with a Beater's bat?" Mr. Kreer had the grace to look slightly ashamed and Cari bit back a chuckle.

Professor Fleet pointed threateningly at the Herbology professor. "You just wait. There's only a few weeks left until the Thanksgiving game. We'll settle this argument then."

Laughingly slapping the Headmistress's hand away, Professor Tallet replied, "You're on!"

Cari and Professor Gregory walked back to Building Seven so they could use the board to go over the finer points of the game. The day had been a lot of fun, incredibly much more so than Cari had expected, but she also had learned a lot and told Professor Gregory so. "I feel like I'm a lot better prepared for Saturday. Not that I'm expecting to do anything more than observe," she added quickly.

Thoughtfully, Professor Gregory mused, "Well, you'll still be observing, but maybe we can have you doing so in a bit more active of a role." Cari, used to this from her Broomsmith classes, let him finish thinking through everything before he explained his words. Finally, he said, "If you feel comfortable with the idea, maybe we'll give you a radio and you can fly opposite me, watching for fouls I can't see. If you see one, or a particular player who keeps fouling, call it to my attention and I'll keep a closer eye on them. Does that sound like an acceptable plan?"

"Yes, I think so. Professor, why use a radio rather than a Speaking Spell?"

"Speaking Spells are wonderful, but they require a certain level of concentration to maintain. I want you focused on staying safely in the air first, then on catching any unrecognized fouls. You shouldn't be distracted at all by trying to keep up a Speaking Spell, not that I'm trying to underestimate your abilities. In situations like these, Muggle radios are the more preferred method."

Cari agreed to his logical explanation and they spent the rest of the afternoon discussing why each foul had been considered a foul and clearing up some minor aspects of the game. Just before Cari left to go back to the castle, Professor Gregory said, "The brooms will need to be polished before the game on Saturday, but Asher and Ransom have already volunteered to help out, so be sure to wear old clothes on Friday."

Thanking him for the warning, Cari went back to her room to finish up the last of her homework before dinner.

Aside from a slightly-increased sense of camaraderie with some her Quidditch-playing professors, Cari's classes were normal during the week. Unfortunately, the sense of normalcy also applied to the normally-heavy load of homework. This, added to the essays Professor Garbin was back to assigning for Cari, made for a week without a lot of free time.

It was a stressful week, but this actually worked to Cari's benefit. In her bid to avoid Shadow, it provided a handy excuse. She had to grab breakfast early straight from the kitchen so she could work on homework in the student lounge. Lunch, she just ate whatever was left over from breakfast so she could work in an empty classroom. Oh, she was late for dinner? What a shame she had been working too hard in the library to make it to the table before everyone had left. It was inconvenient, but the thought of not seeing Shadow anymore even now made Cari's heart hurt. Distance was crucial if she was going to survive his rocket to popularity.

Other than at mealtimes and in class, Cari rarely saw her friends, choosing to spend time in the library or her room when others were likely to be in one of the student lounges. When they were in classes, Cari was either paying attention to the lesson, working dedicatedly on the assigned homework, or – on the rare slow day – working on assignments from other classes. All of this made for a week with very little interaction with people, but Cari was amazed by the amount of work she was accomplishing, even making time to study for Broomsmith classes, since she would be moving on to Theories of Flight at the beginning of the spring semester.

Thursday night, she was finally cornered, figuratively, by her friends. They had waited for her at the second-year table. Cautiously, Cari took a seat, grabbing a scoop of turkey casserole. She didn't wait to hear them talk. Curfew was quickly approaching.

"So, Cari," Tessa started off. "How have you been lately? You know, since you basically disappeared. Do you even go to school here anymore?"

Swallowing a mouthful of noodles, Cari rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sorry about that. I've just been so swamped with classes and all of the essays from Professor Garbin and trying to get ready for the Quidditch game on Saturday. There's just a lot going on and I've been spending most of my time working on something or another."

"Why don't you just read at the table?" Lionel asked, making a fair point. "I've seen you do that before."

She shrugged. "It's not just reading, it's taking notes or answering the questions. It would take up way too much of the table space. Besides, then I'm risking accidentally dumping food on my textbook and that would be a whole different mess I would have to deal with. Anyway, things should slow down a lot by Monday. Until then, I'll see you guys around." Cari scooped up the last of the sauce with a thick slice of bread, washing it down with a gulp of iced tea, and headed back to her dorm room. When she was out of sight, she sighed. _This is stupid. But then again… It's going to make things so much easier after the game. Plus, it's only for a few more days._

The next morning, Cari got up before the cafeteria was even open and went straight to the kitchens. A surprised worker was glad to give her a few slices of toast, once Cari explained that she had somewhere to be and couldn't wait around for the real time. Feeling a complete lack of guilt about the lie, she headed off to Building 7. It was a sunny day and surprisingly warm for November, so she ate her toast, laid down in the dying grass, and stared at the clouds, humming softly to herself.

Before long, her musings were interrupted by a laughing Ransom. "Slacking off already, Romana?"

"Particularly impressive, since we haven't started yet," Asher added. Before too long, however, both of the brothers had sat on the grass as well. Professor Gregory wasn't late very often, but when he was, he made the most of it. In all likelihood, they would be waiting for quite a while longer.

They sat in comfortable silence for until nearly nine-thirty, a half-hour after their Broomstick classes were supposed to start. Professor Gregory sprinted up to the door, threw it open, and looked back over his shoulder wildly at them. "Well? What are you waiting for? We have so much work to do!"

Asher stood before helping his brother and Cari to their feet. "Well, looks like we have another Building 7 lunch in our near future."

"Fantastic. I can always do without one of those," Ransom groaned as they walked inside.

Professor Gregory kept them working steadily all day. They used the same assembly line process as they had last time, though there was admittedly less work to do this time around. Even with recently-updated runes, the process still took what was left of the morning and most of the afternoon. As Asher had predicted, the four ate lunch in the Broomsmith building but were out at four o'clock rather than four-thirty as they had been on that first Friday.

Rather than leave with the Phillips brothers, Cari opted to stay and help Professor Gregory transport the brooms back to the shed. As they carefully stood the last of the recently-cleaned brooms against the broom stand, Cari noticed one sitting in the corner. "Professor, we missed one!" she said, trailing fingertips over the handle. This allowed her to notice two things: One, the broom was absolutely covered in dust. It had not been used in a long time. _Where was this one during that flight lesson? We really could have used an extra! Wait a minute…_ Touching the broom gave Cari the chance to notice the second odd thing about it: this was the same broom that Cari had experienced such a connection with during the Thanksgiving Quidditch game nearly a year ago.

Gregory took one look at the broom and shook his head. "That one was left here on purpose."

"But why? The last time I flew, it seemed like a perfectly good broom."

The professor wheeled, fixing her with an odd gaze. "You've flown on this broom? No problems, nothing strange?" She shook her head in answer to both questions and he frowned. "That's odd. Miss Romana, this particular broom has a history. Would you be interested in hearing it?" Obviously, Cari was.

Professor Gregory put his hands in his pockets and began pacing around the inside of the broom shed. "A few years ago, one of the Broomsmith students noticed that each broom has a slightly different feel. All will fly, but some will fly better for certain people than they will for others. I'm sure you've noticed this phenomenon yourself. Anyway, the student warned everyone that this broom had a vibe that was slightly… off. It acted strangely for everyone who tried to ride it. The Headmaster at the time refused to believe the student.

"Well, it became a game among the Quidditch players, a test of bravery. There was one boy, the youngest player on his team, who was determined to ride this broom despite the fact that he obviously clashed with whatever personality it has. He was flying when it… To be perfectly blunt, it appeared to everyone that the broom decided to buck the player off. He had been flying level with the highest hoop when it happened. He didn't make it." Cari would have thought this was an elaborate joke or a school ghost story, but there was a strange gravity in Professor Gregory's eyes.

"The Headmaster refused to believe that the broom was the cause of the accident. Never one to waste money, he also refused to dispose of the broom. Nevertheless, the story leaked out and this broom became an urban legend. Students talk about it and every new Quidditch player is told the story, but no one dares to ride it." He narrowed his eyes, studying Cari. "If you've ridden this broom twice and nothing bad has happened… I hate to ask it this way, but did this broom feel different in any way?"

"Yeah," Cari affirmed, nodding. "It was the first broom I had ever flown on, but it felt better in my hand than any of the others did. The times I've flown this year felt just… Not as good. You know?"

Professor Gregory nodded as though some private suspicion had been confirmed. "It sounds like you've formed a sort of bond with this broom. There is no proof to indicate the existence of such a connection, of course, yet there are all types of theories and stories." He stopped pacing abruptly and smiled at Cari. "We could sit here and talk about these things all day, but there's some reviewing I'm guessing you want to do. Just remember that you can either use that broom if you still feel a connection with it, or you can choose not to now that you know its past. It is your decision. Now, let's get back to the building."

By the time they had finished reviewing, it was nearly curfew. Cari hurried back to her dorm to find that all of her roommates were already asleep. _Probably a good thing_ , she thought. _I just want some sleep before tomorrow._ After a quick shower, she crawled into bed, falling into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

* * *

Author's Note \- I apologize for any errors. I'm doing most of this from my phone since real life is being kind of a beast right now and the app works a little differently from the desktop formatting. If anyone following this story gets notice of an update late tonight or early tomorrow, it's just me fixing anything I missed.

In any case, big chapter! First mention of Harry Potter himself, even though some of Fletch's facts were a little... filtered through chains of gossip. For anyone still taken aback by the timeline, this story is set in more recent times, but Cari is one year ahead of the Golden Trio in school. Hopefully, this helps clear things up!

Lastly, this is yet another week with only one update. It's killing me, in case anyone's wondering, but we're getting closer to where I'm currently writing, so I have to ration! Anyway, to end this rambling author's note, reviews, follows, and favorites are always welcome, and might be the kick I need to finally get writing some new material. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!


	28. Quidditch

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials. The ideas presented in this fanfiction - especially those involving the rules of Quidditch - are the creation and sole property of J.K. Rowling and her publisher. I do not profit from the writing or publishing of this story.

* * *

Quidditch

Professor Gregory and Cari had decided that a last-minute meeting had been needed, so she was awake, dressed in uniform black pants and white shirt, and headed to Building 7 by eight o'clock on game day. It was a cold morning, the sky covered with clouds. As Cari walked, she was reminded strongly of the morning of her first flight lessons with Professor Fleet. The clouds, hopefully, would stay long enough to make for perfect flight conditions. She had tried very hard not to have spoken to Shadow in the past week, but Cari certainly didn't want to see anything happen to her friend.

The game was slated to start at eleven, but the referees had to be on the pitch by ten. Cari and Professor Gregory reviewed the rules, who would be playing, and exactly what role Cari would have in being a referee-in-training. Despite all of their preparations, she still didn't feel completely ready when it was time for both to don the short black flight robes worn by referees. Gregory handed Cari a whistle, which she looped around her neck even as he warned her not to use it unless she was completely certain someone had fouled or was in danger. He also gave her a radio, but they decided that trying to hold the small device while flying was asking for trouble, so they both used Sticking Charms to fix the radios to their shoulders for easy access.

With a few final adjustments to robes, the started the walk up to the Quidditch Pitch. Professor Gregory smiled over at Cari. "Deep breath, Miss Romana. You're going to do fine."

She meant to say _thank you_ or _I hope so_ , but what came out was, "How do you know?"

He laughed. "Because we've been working on this for months now. I've never seen anyone put as much work into understanding Quidditch as you have and I'm one-hundred percent sure it's going to pay off. How could it not?"

Cari groaned softly. "Don't ask. I could find a way, I'm sure." He just shook his head as they continued along in comfortable silence.

At the Quidditch Pitch, there was a surprising amount of activity. Both teams were already there, each in their own locker room. The Headmistress was supervising the few students who were already showing up even as she moved the brooms around, ready to be inspected before they were separated between the teams. Cari and Professor Gregory each retrieved a broom for their own use. The Broomsmith teacher watched her curiously, asking, "Did you choose the broom you had felt a previous connection with?"

"Yes," Cari said simply, raising the broom to her shoulder. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but made no further comments. For the most part, their job seemed to consist of walking around and gauging a variety of things, flying up to check that none of the goals had been tampered with, and looking over the brooms a final time before they were split among the teams.

When everything was checked and the brooms were leaned gently in the broom stands outside each of the locker rooms, Professor Fleet beckoned them over. "If you two would like to go check the teams, we're getting close to kickoff."

Professor Gregory nodded and began leading Cari over toward the Arts locker room, explaining, "We have to do a verbal check that the teams are ready. After that, they have about ten minutes until they're supposed to walk onto the Pitch. Normally, if there are two referees, one checks with one team while the other checks with the second, but since you're still a student, certain allowances have to be made."

Cari nodded her understanding and they stepped inside after a quick rap on the door. It was opened by a slight, red-headed boy she vaguely recognized as a seventh-year named Ethan Jameson. Professor Gregory cleared his throat and said officiously, "Captain Jameson, is your team safely and thoroughly prepared to play today's Quidditch game?"

Jameson, who Cari just noticed was wearing a Captain's badge sewn onto his robes, inclined his head gravely and Gregory said, "Very well. Please make your way onto the Pitch in approximately ten minutes."

It was a short trek to the Physical Wing locker room. Once again, the professor knocked sharply on the door. Niccolo Rossi opened it and gave the pair a slight smile. "Professor Gregory, Licaria."

In the same officious tone, Professor Gregory repeated, "Captain Rossi, is your team safely and thoroughly prepared to play today's Quidditch game?"

"We are, sir."

"Very well. Please make your way onto the Pitch in approximately ten minutes."

They had just turned the corner on their way back to the Pitch when Shadow came barreling out from behind them, skidding to a halt. Breathlessly, he said, "Professor Gregory, may I please speak to Cari for a moment?"

Gregory stared at Shadow a moment, considering. "Well, you know that Miss Romana is supposed to have limited contact with members of the Quidditch teams, especially of her own Wing and _especially_ on game day…" He smiled conspiratorially, "So if you would make it quick and keep this between us, it would be appreciated. Go ahead." He wandered a few steps away, pretending to be very interested in the dials on the radio attached to his shoulder.

"Cari-" Shadow started, but she was already moving a little past him.

"Shadow, there's a lot of stuff I have to get done before the match starts-"

"Romana!" he burst, pulling her back around the corner toward the locker room. The door was still closed and now Professor Gregory was out of sight, so they had a measure of privacy. She furrowed her brows at him. "You've been avoiding me lately." Cari gazed longingly past him, but he shifted, standing between her and the exit with arms crossed. "I'm not leaving, and neither are you, until you tell me why."

Cari sighed, leaning back against the wall. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Just give it until after the game, and if you don't understand then, I'll explain it to you. Sound like a deal?"

"No. Tell me now."

She would have tried to convince him, but she knew by the sounds coming from outside that kickoff would be happening soon. She wouldn't put it past Shadow to keep them both there until they rotted just because he had said he would. "Fine. From what I've heard about your practices, you're good. Really good. How long do you think it's going to be before you're one of the cool kids and don't want to hang out with us losers anymore?"

"Okay, let's say that's true." It was so far from the usual _that's never going to happen_ that Cari's full attention snapped to her friend, meeting his blue gaze for the first time in a week. "Let's say there's only a limited amount of time until I become popular and leave all you guys behind for other popular people. Why spend your last week with me by avoiding spending any time with me?"

Putting hands on her hips, Cari glared up at him. "Maybe because I'm going to miss you? You're my friend, Shadow, and by pulling away first, you being gone is on my terms, not yours."

"You're an idiot, Romana." She made a face, opening her mouth to say something scathing, but he continued loudly. "I'm not going anywhere. You guys like me for me, not because I'm good at Quidditch. Do you really think I'm shallow enough to abandon my friends for people who only see what they can get from me? I'm hurt."

He didn't look it. He looked smug. "Yeah, whatever. Give it until after the game, when you're surrounded by packs of adoring fans. You'll change your mind then."

Abruptly, Shadow reached out, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a slight shake. "Cari. I am not going anywhere. People could come pouring onto that field, chanting my name and asking to hang out with me after every game from now until we graduate and I would still say, 'Hey, sorry. I need to go spend time with my friends. Have you met them? They're awesome.' Make sense?"

"No," Cari said flatly, then allowed herself to smile slightly as she added, "That scenario makes no sense to me at all. Completely unrealistic. No one will like you enough to want to hang out that often."

He smiled and seemed about to say something else when the locker room door swung open. Niccolo's dark eyes flicked from Shadow to Cari, noting his hands on her shoulders. One corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "I hate to interrupt what I'm sure is a fascinating conversation," he drawled, "But I need my Chaser back. We're due out there in a few minutes."

"Okay, Captain. Be there in a second," Shadow said, and Niccolo pulled the door shut again. He looked at Cari, eyes dancing. "So, are we okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay. Are _you_ okay?" she asked, indicating his suddenly-shaking hands.

With a sheepish smile, he answered, "I think so. I'm just a little nervous."

She nodded sympathetically. "I know exactly what you mean. But you're going to be great. Not that you need it, but-" Cari rose up on tiptoes to lightly kiss Shadow's cheek, "good luck." While he stood motionless, she brushed past him and walked outside, blushing furiously.

Professor Gregory straightened as he caught sight of her red face. "Everything okay?"

Cari shrugged. "As far as I know. Are we ready?" They walked out onto the middle of the Quidditch Pitch, ready to kick off when the players did. Gregory gave Cari some last-minute instructions and she listened intently, trying to convince herself that the fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach was just nerves about her first game as a referee.

* * *

Sunday afternoon found Cari working away in Building 7. All of the brooms had taken a shocking beating during the previous day's game. Somehow, Professor Gregory had convinced the Phillips brothers to come and help out, despite their assertions that they didn't like spending time working on brooms when they weren't being graded or paid for the work. So far, Ransom had only complained once, but Professor Gregory had instantly shut him down, telling him fondly, "You helped to mess up the brooms. It only makes sense that you help fix them again."

Yes, Cari had certainly been shocked when her Broomsmith classmates had walked out onto the Pitch with the rest of the Physical Wing Quidditch team. As it turned out, both had been on the team since their second years. Asher was the team's Seeker while Ransom seemed to thoroughly enjoy being one of the team's Beaters. Today, he was being less than pleasant to be around, but he had done a fair job keeping the Bludgers away from her and Shadow, so Cari readily forgave him.

They worked in silence, each working on a different aspect of repairs. Since Cari was still the youngest in the class, she was once again stuck with just polishing the finished brooms. It was dull, and her mind wandered back to the day before. Shadow really was good at the game. He was a joy to watch, all smooth movements and fast speeds. Admittedly, Cari hadn't had much of a chance to watch him as she focused on her own responsibilities, but it hadn't taken long for the crowd to recognize the new Chaser. Shadow had scored a large percentage of the Physical Wing's points, which was impressive as the other Chasers were extremely skilled as well.

As soon as the game ended – as Shadow had predicted, with a decisive win with Asher catching the Snitch – and everyone had touched down, her blond friend made a beeline for her, face filled with triumph. "Do you hear that?" he had said, a hand cupped around one of his ears. "They're chanting my name, just like I said they would be."

In reality, the crowd had been divided between chanting Niccolo's name and for the Physical team as a whole, but she had nodded, widening her eyes in false enthrallment. "Yeah, I hear them. ' _Cocky egomaniac! Cocky egomaniac!'_ You should wave to your adoring fans."

He threw his head back and laughed then. "But the point is, everyone saw how amazing I am and yet who am I talking to now? Not the ultra-rich, Pure-blooded, popular kids. Not any of my new, adoring fans. Not even my fellow teammates. Just lowly little Licaria Romana, who was so sure I was going to change and abandon her for greener pastures."

She had rolled her eyes hard enough that they still hurt today. "Yeah, maybe I should have been hoping you were going to leave us all in peace. Go greet your adoring fans." It was good timing, since the rest of their friends had rushed out onto the Pitch and Cari was drawn away into a meeting between Professors Gregory and Fleet, giving constructive criticism over what she had done well or poorly throughout the match.

Cari's reverie was interrupted when Professor Gregory stood, stretched languorously, and said, "I'm going on a snack run. Anyone want anything?"

Obviously, being a group of teenagers – Cari was almost there, anyway – they listed off a variety of snack foods and an assortment of drinks before the professor managed to escape the building. As soon as he was out of earshot, Ransom pulled a travel-sized stereo from his suspiciously-lumpy bag and started playing a CD of random '80s songs. They worked in silence for a while, enjoying the music.

Finally, as Cari nodded slowly to the beat of 'Jessie's Girl', she said, "I never knew either of you were on the Quidditch team. Why didn't you guys ever say anything?"

Asher shrugged self-consciously. "It never really came up. Plus, we don't like to brag."

She could believe that about the soft-spoken Asher, but his younger brother was another story altogether. The boy in question was watching her, so Cari just raised a single eyebrow, silently conveying her doubt.

Ransom let out a deep, rolling laugh. "Come on, Romana. You can't really be surprised. When you handle this much wood on a daily basis, handling balls just comes naturally.

Cari was slightly shocked, though the warning signs should have been apparent in Ransom's sparkling eyes. However, knowing that he was looking for a reaction, Cari simply chuckled along with him rather than act uncomfortable. The laughter helped to disguise the slight tinge of red in her cheeks.

"Don't kid yourself, Ransom. You don't handle balls so much as just beat them around a bit." Shockingly, Asher spoke with a joking tone in his voice despite the fact that his gaze never left the broom he was working on.

Scoffing, Ransom threw back, "Oh, that's rich! You spend all of every match looking for one small ball and you have to fight another player for it. At least I spend a fair amount of time with my hands firmly dealing with a pair of balls."

"Ransom!" Professor Gregory said, bursting into Building 7 with a look of horror on his face. "What on earth are you saying? And Asher, I expected better from you!"

Asher had the grace to look ashamed, but Ransom grinned unrepentantly. Before the professor could launch into a full-scale tirade, Cari cut in. "Sorry, Professor. We were just joking around and got a little carried away."

Professor Gregory shot her a strange look, but she widened her eyes, trying to convey sincerity. Apparently, he accepted the explanation, because he changed the topic as he set his armful of treats on the worktable. "You did very well yesterday, Miss Romana. I was very impressed, as was Headmistress Fleet."

Cari shrugged. "I didn't really do very much. But I do feel like I learned some things. Maybe I can be more of a help next match."

"You did plenty," he consoled, "and next match will be Arts versus Politics." Professor Gregory glanced around briefly before confiding, "The players on the Politics team are some great kids, but any time they play, I need eight extra pairs of eyes just to keep up with the fouls. Hopefully with the added experience, you can help me keep them from getting away with too many."

She couldn't completely bite back a chuckle, having heard Shadow complain about that very thing last season. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

The next day, the dinner table was bursting with conversations and laughter. The group at their end was split between asking Shadow questions about being on the Quidditch team and wanting to know about all of the strange referee things Cari had to do. Between the two, Cari and Shadow entertained the group for the majority of the meal, though Cari was distracted by Lydia's absence.

Her friend and roommate hadn't been seen since their last class of the day, and Cari was concerned enough that she had already thought up a plan to search for her friend before their curfew hit. However, it turned out to be a waste of time, since Lydia came walking into the cafeteria just as Cari finished up her food.

She slid into her seat at the table dejectedly. Cari watched her for a second as Shadow told some dramatic, probably not at all true story of something that happened during the Quidditch game. Quietly, she asked, "Is everything okay?" Lydia shook her head, eyes never leaving her still-empty plate.

Suddenly, they had the attention of the entire table. In a soft voice, Tessa asked, "What's the matter, honey?" Somehow, in her warm southern tones, the endearment came off comforting and not stupid. Cari would have envied the talent if she hadn't been grateful for Lydia's immediate relaxation.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to be stuck here over Thanksgiving break. My parents are headed somewhere exotic for the holidays." Lydia shook her head slightly, forcing a smile. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"That's great!" Shadow burst. The rest of the table collectively turned to stare at him, horrified by his lack of manners. He blushed. "What I mean is, Cari's going to be here, and now you will, too. I don't have anything super important going on back home. Maybe I'll stay here over the Thanksgiving break. Anyone else?"

Eric's face grew considering. "It doesn't sound like a bad time. My Dad is going to Bolivia and I've been there a couple of times already. I'll hang around here over the break."

One by one, almost everyone agreed, except for Toby and Lionel. Toby stared down at his hands, twisting on the table in front of him. "I can't. I promised my mom and little brother that I would come home. We host Thanksgiving every year and there are a ton of relatives coming over. It sounds like fun, though."

"I'm out, too," Lionel said reluctantly. "I unfortunately have some family of my own to go visit. My mom is a stickler for traditions around the holidays. But if this spins into a school tradition, put me down for next year?" He grinned. "I'm pretty sure I could sell that to my mom as something worth staying around here for."

Shadow held out a hand. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. After all, yeah, it could be fun with all of us together, but it is still just going to be a Thanksgiving spent at school with teachers and everything."

Despite all of Shadow's doubts, Thanksgiving break at Echowick was off to a promising start from the first day. They all had watched Chayton and Professor Fleet have a short conversation filled with a lot of smiles and wheedling tones. In the end, Professor Fleet had reluctantly given permission for the few students who were staying over break to relax the dress code slightly.

As a result, nearly everyone at Echowick came to breakfast over the length of the vacation dressed in pajamas, slippers, and bathrobes. It definitely made for an interesting start to the day, but it was nowhere near as entertaining as watching Shadow stress over the Thanksgiving Quidditch match. Professor Tallet had claimed him right away, stating how impressed she had been with his skill during the first match of the season. Shadow had strutted around until the game started, when his team was completely thrashed by Professor Fleet's, helped along by Niccolo Rossi's skills. Cari was amused to note that Khan made eye contact with her several times, indicating his broom with a slight incline of his head each time. She smiled at him and nodded each time, assuring him that his broom was indeed still safe.

Of course, the match had been the topic of the conversation during Thanksgiving dinner and the following days of vacation until the rest of the students returned and Shadow had already threatened to start punching people. Of course, Lionel and Toby were told as soon as they reached campus and were suitably amused by the outcome of the match, though they were much more eager to hear about the time they had missed at the school. "So," Lionel asked, "do we have a new tradition?"

Lydia, who had held together remarkably well over the course of the days, nodded excitedly. "Definitely! I can't wait for next year!"

* * *

Author's Note \- I hope Thanksgiving didn't feel too rushed, but it kind of was, so I can't be too mad if it came off that way. Also, I'm sorry that I did the cop-out thing where you just skip over the game as a whole. As someone who isn't a fan of any sports in real life, I have serious doubts about my abilities to write decent coverage of a game. However, I do try later in the story, so you'll have to let me know what you think! Speaking of letting me know, reviews are always welcome. Quick shout-out to Samantha, who reviewed a few days ago: thank you so much for the feedback! You're too sweet! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well.

That about wraps it up, though I want to remind everyone that I'm going to be posting two chapters a week for the rest of 2016. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you on Thursday!


	29. Christmas

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any idea from the story present in this fanfiction. I make no money from the writing or publishing of such and write purely for my own enjoyment.

* * *

Christmas

Spring had always been Cari's favorite time of the year. Something about the just-blooming flowers, the smell of freshly-cut grass, and the eye-soothing sight of new leaves on the trees just made her happy. The birds chirping, the warming weather, and the slowly-lengthening days all worked together to create a truly magical time of year.

However, Christmas at Echowick was nearly enough to make Cari change her opinions. Though Echowick food was always fairly tasty, it became absolutely delicious around the holidays. Plates of Christmas cookies appeared randomly in classrooms, hallways, and even dorms, disappearing before they had a chance to grow stale – whether into the mouths of students or to somewhere unknown. The enormous fireplace in the cafeteria was roomy enough to house a stocking for each student and every day, another treasure waited to be discovered.

Classes became somewhat Christmas-themed as well. Professor Perez gave each student a small, rubber bouncy ball, teaching the students how to Transfigure them into beautiful glass Christmas ornaments. Some students chose to keep their new ornaments, but far more of the students decided to hang them as decorations on the gigantic Christmas tree in the cafeteria.

During their first Herbology class after coming back from Thanksgiving break, Professor Tallet had given the class one quick-growing seed each. "Students, this is going to be your midterm project. Plant them shallow, give them two-and-a-half drops of Heckner's infused fertilizing potion, and water them every other day with half a cup of water."

The students had glanced around at each other in confusion. "Professor," Lydia said hesitantly, half-raising her hand. "You didn't tell us what kind of plants these are."

Tallet smiled. "No, I did not. It's to be a surprise."

And a surprise it had definitely been when, in the second week of December, they had walked into the greenhouse to find a crop of poinsettia's had bloomed and were heartily belting out Christmas carols. After a refresher course in repotting plants, the poinsettias had been moved to decorate the cafeteria and halls of Echowick, harmonizing Christmas classics, joined at times by individuals or groups of students.

Even Professor Garbin, easily the grumpiest of the Echowick staff members, began to show some holiday spirit, helping to create strands of glittering icicles both indoors and out, glowing with white light from within. The professor seemed to enjoy Christmas more than any other time, since the workload in his class decreased considerably as finals approached and he almost stopped assigning essays altogether. On one memorable occasion, he even gave Cari something close to a neutral face instead of his usual frown. _It certainly is the time of year for miracles,_ she reflected in amusement.

The weather had turned nasty around the end of November, but having a small school worked to their benefit. The hallways were kept toasty - even hallways that were outdoors - with some help from constantly-refreshed warming charms. The fact that said hallways almost always smelled like peppermint or baking bread probably wasn't a coincidence, either.

All of this was very pleasant, but even the awestruck Cari had to admit that the grandeur made it difficult to concentrate on studying. This was why, as soon as the individual study days rolled around, Cari and most of the group would choose a quiet spot in the library. Mrs. Helen sternly discouraged any decorations in her library. The only exceptions were one small, sparsely-decorated Christmas tree and the Santa hat she wore on a regular basis. Instead of catchy Christmas tunes, Helen kept her classical music – though Cari would occasionally note that a currently-playing song was really a piano version of _Silent Night_ or _Jingle Bells_ rather than Mozart or Beethoven.

Most of December passed in this pleasant way. The concentration on studying was intense, but in one of their rare conversations about something other than school, Cari asked Lydia, "What is with all of the decorations this year? I don't remember any of this being around last Christmas."

Lydia leaned in, beckoning Cari closer. "I'm not supposed to know this, but I overheard Professor Fleet telling Mr. Kreer about it. You know how Pitt's mom donated so much money so they would have to let him on the Quidditch team? Well, the board of directors accepted without Fleet's input, but the decision on how to spend the money would be entirely left up to her. She decided that, if everyone was going to have to put up with being around him, they should get some joy in return." She laughed triumphantly.

Cari wasn't so sure about this. "I don't know about that. I mean, it isn't that I'm calling you a liar," she hastened to say, "but all of this? It had to have cost a ton of money."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "You don't think the board of directors would turn over a decision made by the Headmistress for a small amount of money, do you? Mother Geikas needed to make sure her baby wasn't going to be left out.

Mother Geikas' baby certainly was turning out to be a thorn in Cari's side. During the first Quidditch match of the Politics team, he had aimed every Bludger he came in contact with directly at her. However, thanks to magic that kept them flying only at members of the teams, the Bludgers were more of a nuisance than an actual danger.

Though she tried not to be proud of it, Cari had managed to steel her nerves enough to catch her first foul. She had radioed Professor Gregory in time for him to catch it and make the call, gaining a penalty against the offending player. Unfortunately, the player in question was none other than Ravinger Kaine and the penalty called against him ended up losing the game for the Politics Wing.

He had been glaring at Cari ever since, every chance he got. Cari tried to stay cool and distant, but Ravinger was a lot more intimidating than Pitt had ever been. The only upside was that she had won the instant respect of every other Quidditch team. Shockingly, Ravinger wasn't known for his respectful and team-friendly manners on the Pitch. If Ravinger was ever thinking about upping the violence level, there always seemed to be some Quidditch player or another hanging around in just the right spot.

On one hand, Cari had never felt safer, but she also missed the chance to simply enjoy the Christmas decorations, which suddenly didn't seem quite distracting enough. _How many enemies am I going to make at this school?_

* * *

The way December fell meant that the third Quidditch match – the last of the season's first half – was scheduled for the Saturday before midterms week. Cari was a wreck, already on edge from studying nonstop, but the rainy weather made her nervous for the sake of her friends on the team. However, the Physical vs. Arts match was about as calm as Quidditch matches ever were.

Both teams played fairly well, though Ransom did accidentally launch his bat into the Academics stands and had to dodge both Bludgers while he retrieved it. As far as she could remember, Cari had never seen a group of people more willing to help out the member of a rival sports team.

The real standout, however, was Shadow. He scored more points than either of the other Chasers for the Physical Wing, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the audience or the members of the teams. Asher ended up missing the Snitch by just a fraction of a second, leading to narrow win by the Arts Wing, but everyone agreed later that it was the most nail-biting game the school had seen in several years.

When the team touched down, Cari breathed a sigh of relief. Two out of three games had passed for the Physical Wing and no one she knew had been hurt yet. Shadow once again approached, a cocky grin spreading across his face, but was intercepted from an unexpected angle. Niccolo, having been accosted by Arsenia immediately after landing, had seen a chance and went for it.

"Arsenia, please allow me to introduce Shadow Hale. Shadow, this is Arsenia Aguilar." They shook hands and Niccolo fairly ran over to where Cari was watching. "That was lucky," he muttered from the corner of his mouth as he headed for the locker rooms, shooting her a relieved smile over his shoulder.

As Cari waited, Shadow and Arsenia seemed to fall deeply into conversation. Shadow grew into his naturally animated self, gesturing and making his strange variety of facial expressions. Arsenia simpered and smiled, moving closer to him in small movements until she was practically leaning on his arm, staring up at him. Cari watched the exchange with a strange, uncomfortable feeling. This discomfort intensified when she noticed that the pair's hands were still tangled together between their torsos.

"Hellooo? Earth to Cari?" Lydia asked, waving a hand in front of Cari's eyes.

Mentally shaking herself, Cari smiled at her friend. "Sorry, I was off in my own little world. Did you say something?"

"Yeah, we know exactly what kind of world you were in," Jael said with a laugh. "We were just saying good job and asking if you wanted to come get something to eat. You always talk about how hungry you get when you're flying. Plus, it's freezing out here and we all want to get inside."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. I guess it is a little cold. And I am kind of hungry. Give me just a second and I'll run back to the room and change." Cari was studiously looking anywhere except at Shadow and the girl who was apparently his new best friend.

"Okay, good," Kimber said, "I'm starving! You go put your broom up and we'll go get the table warmed up for you."

Eyes strictly on the ground in front of her, Cari hurried off through the scarf-wrapped, glove-wearing crowd, setting her broom gently in the broom shed. "Miss Romana!" Professor Gregory called after her, but eager to leave the area, Cari pretended not to hear until he called her again.

She sighed, turning around. "Hey, Professor Gregory. Good job refereeing out there. Nine o'clock tomorrow to polish brooms?"

He shook his head. "That's why I was trying to catch you. I know you have midterms coming up, plus it's almost the holidays. Why don't you take tomorrow off?"

"Are you serious?" she asked, staring.

The Broomsmith professor grinned. "Merry Christmas." She thanked him profusely and hurried back to her dorm room, visions of a mug of hot chocolate dancing in her head.

What was left of the weekend turned out to be no fun whatsoever. Stressed about finals, the students hardly spoke to one another, let alone take time to hang out and have fun. The only person Cari actually had a conversation with on Sunday was Lionel, and he mostly just wanted to complain about Iagan Kelly, who was also in Law classes.

"I mean, the guy is just so weird, you know?" Cari, seated at a table in the library surrounded by stacks of books, merely nodded noncommittally. Lionel apparently took this as encouragement to continue. "I've watched him in class. He doesn't just learn about laws and becoming a Lawyer, he manipulates people. Second-years, upperclassmen, even the professors. It's like he can get away with almost anything just by talking to someone. I don't understand how he does it!"

"Yeah," Cari said absently, "I've seen him do that kind of stuff around the school. He's really good at it." Rather than stop the stream of complaints, her agreement seemed to have thrown gasoline on the fire. In total, Lionel had ranted for over an hour.

The multiple warnings from the teachers rung in everyone's ears: This year would likely have the most difficult sessions of midterms and finals since there was such a large amount of information being taught. _There's so much stress to do well on the midterms. It almost makes me miss being a first-year!_ Cari watched as a group of laughing third-years started lobbing snowballs at a couple of first-years walking across the campus, then smiled as one of the Wing Leaders chased them down and made them apologize. _Then again, being a second-year isn't so bad. At least we're almost halfway done!_

Fortunately, students were set up to take half of their tests on Monday, the other half on Tuesday, and Wednesday would be the day they were tested on their specialty classes. Thursday was a free day and Friday there was an all-day Christmas party in the cafeteria. With those incentives in mind, most of the students ate breakfast on Monday morning with grimly determined faces.

They had two hours to finish each test, but thankfully, only finals were supposed to have a practical section. All of the tests, other than Herbology, were written. With all of the studying, Cari felt fairly confident in the results of her midterms. Though she had been a little nervous about what her Broomsmith tests would consist of, the obviously-handmade test proved to be extremely simple. The questions focused mainly on the rules of Quidditch, with a few basic questions about broom care thrown in.

Cari decided to wait around while Professor Gregory graded her test. "Well," he said finally, handing the paper to her. "You got the best grade in the class."

"Way to overachieve, Romana," Ransom grumbled.

"Also, I haven't finished mine yet," Asher said, making a few more notations on the spells covering the page he was working on.

While Professor Gregory apologized, Cari went to return the library books she had borrowed to study, wishing Mrs. Helen a merry Christmas on the way out.

The next day was a wonderful break from the insane pace of the past two weeks. Somehow, a group of students in the Academics Wing had started a marathon of classic Christmas movies. One of the seventh-years had managed to use an Undetectable Expansion Charm on the fourth-year student lounge and there were close to fifty students inside. They were sitting around in tee shirts and sweatpants, eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate. Cari and Lydia arrived just in time to see the end of _White Christmas_ and the beginning of _It's a Wonderful Life_. Halfway through _A Christmas Story_ , they were joined by the rest of the group.

Eventually, the party was broken up by Professor Fleet, though she did let them finish _Elf_ before she sent them all out to dinner.

Friday brought a flurry of female students running around in a panic, each trying to find someone to Transfigure some item of clothing into a dress for the Christmas party. Lydia, who was oddly good at Transfiguration, had already created her own outfit for the night. "Cari, do you need any help changing anything? I can help you out if you need it?"

Cari's pride was piqued, but she couldn't truly get offended. Transfiguration was not her best subject and Lydia knew it well, since she had to help Cari every now and then. "Thanks, but no. I already have an outfit all planned."

"Ooh," she said, eyes sparkling. "What is it? I want to see."

Cari gestured down at herself. "Well, this is it."

She watched as Lydia took in her outfit, from the hair piled on her head, to the Beatles tee shirt, the comfortably broken-in jeans, and her old tennis shoes. "You have _got_ to be joking. You can't go in that! Just… just no."

Shrugging, Cari said, "It's not a formal event. Fleet said we can show up in whatever we want."

"No. Other people can show up in whatever they want, but fortunately, you have a roommate slash best friend who cares too much about you to let you wear that to the Christmas party."

A few hours later, Lydia had wrestled Cari into an old nightdress that had been Transfigured into a gray silk dress. After much persuasion, Cari had convinced Lydia to add straps and a few inches to the hem. In the end, it was a sleek dress that fell from her shoulders down to mid-calf. Lydia had even done something to Cari's frizzy brown waves, smoothing them up to pile high on her head. One beauty charm later and the dress perfectly brought out the shade of Cari's eyes.

The party was a fantastic time. All of the tables had been pushed to the edges of the cafeteria and covered in tablecloths and place settings, leaving a surprisingly spacious dance floor filled with students. One of the professors who taught Music classes was the DJ for the event, and she played a combination of wizarding and Muggle music. The dance floor was packed at all times, and the Christmas decorations – incredible on their own – were even more dazzling when hit with the colored strobe lights and the reflected beams from a ridiculously oversized disco ball. A fire roared merrily in the fireplace, though a grate kept any unwary students from getting too close.

The boys were already in the cafeteria by the time the girls arrived, having met outside Jael and Willa's room in the Politics Wing. It was no surprise, really. After all, boys had so much less work to do before they were ready. In any case, it made Lydia happy that they got to make a 'grand entrance'.

As cliché as the situation was, Cari had to admit that it was satisfying to watch the faces of the boys as the girls walked into the cafeteria. All of them appeared stunned, which made sense to Cari. The girls did look pretty stunning, though she had to admit that the guys cleaned up pretty nicely as well. Everyone said hello, exchanged compliments, and the group found a table that would hold everyone. There were platters of ham and turkey in the middle of the table surrounded by a variety of side dishes, drinks, and desserts.

Since Cari's transformation had taken all day, she hadn't had a chance to eat. Eagerly, she loaded her plate with turkey, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and a piece of thick brown bread. While she ate, Cari heard the music and saw the dancing, but she was really paying attention to the students who shared her table. Quick glances and shy smiles flew thick through the air and the tension grew nearly palpable.

Finally, just as she was getting ready to yell at someone, Toby leaned over and said something to Tessa in a voice too quiet for Cari to hear. Tessa blushed, but smiled at the same time. She nodded once and the pair slipped away, headed for the dance floor. Cari noticed with amusement that he was taller than Tessa, even now when she was wearing high heels.

Before long, the group largely paired off. Fletchmeister and Jael were laughing as they came up with every stupid move they could think of. From across the room, the rules seemed to be that the first one to laugh lost. Lydia had somehow talked Eric into getting on the dance floor and she was laughing as he attempted to dance… at least, until an odd classic song came on, when he swept her into a tango with perfect form. Lionel and Willa were on the dance floor as well, though they mostly spent time warding off flocks of Willa's admirers, most of whom seemed unable to understand personal space.

By far, Cari's favorite couple to watch was Chayton and Kimber. They weren't funny like the others were, but they danced like they only saw the other person. Cari could look at them and see that, as far as they were concerned, the room only had one other person in it.

"Don't you want to go dance?" Shadow asked.

Cari made a face. "I hate dancing and I like food. I think I'm fine where I'm at, thanks." He smiled and rolled his eyes, but stayed sitting at the table with her. She leaned forward, catching his attention again. "You should go dance if you want to. I'm seriously in heaven with this dinner and I really don't enjoy dancing at all. If you do, then please, go dance."

"Are you sure?" he asked, blue eyes serious.

"Of course! What's the point of staying here being bored if you could be out there doing something you enjoy? Have fun!"

Shadow smiled gratefully at her and she returned the expression. It stayed on her face until Shadow actually got out on the dance floor, when an obviously fed-up Niccolo happened by. As usual, Arsenia was right behind him, vying for his attention. Even Cari, who didn't especially like the third-year girl, had to admit that Arsenia looked wonderful. Wearing a low-cut, emerald green velvet gown, she looked very… older than a third-year. Still, Niccolo managed to keep her away until he spotted the Physical team's newest Chaser walking onto the dance floor.

Niccolo made a beeline for Shadow, greeted him briefly, then said something to draw Arsenia into the conversation. When he left the dance floor less than a minute later, she stayed behind, dancing and chatting with Shadow for the rest of the night.

When Cari's mood became suitably foul, she excused herself to go back to her room and pack. Well, she didn't actually have anyone to excuse herself to, which made it a far easier process. By the time Lydia got back to the room, Cari had gotten dressed in pajamas, pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail, and used _finite incantatum_ on the beauty charm. She felt very 'Cinderella after the ball', but it was for the best. _Life is not a fairy tale. Pretending it is just isn't healthy. Besides, I'm comfortable being me, no fairy godmother necessary._

At least, that was what she told herself. In reality, she found herself mulling over the events of the dance over and over throughout her vacation for some reason she didn't really understand. Briefly, she wondered if she was starting to care for Shadow in a way that would make them more than friends, but immediately cast the thought away. It was impossible.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, I know some of you called this a mile (or ten chapters) back, but it's satisfying to have it actually confirmed, right? Anyway, Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah to those of you who celebrate! And in case I'm for some reason late in posting on Monday, Happy Kwanzaa! In recognition of the holiday season, I won't pester you to review. Really. Even though it would make a wonderful present. Moving on! I'll have the next chapter up on Monday. Until then, I hope everyone has a chance to spend some quiet time with family and recharge those batteries. Happy Holidays!


	30. Feelings

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related materials, products, or franchises. J. K. Rowling is the sole owner of such. I own only the original elements of this story, from which I do not make any profit.

* * *

Feelings

Cari had complained about the start of the second semester all her life and it didn't look like she was going to change her opinion any time soon. The first day back at Echowick had been a beast of a time. All of the decorations had been removed over the break, and the goodwill of the teachers seemed to have disappeared along with the festivities. The plain walls and lack of decorations made the school look dull and stifling. Even Echowick itself was terrible during the beginning of January. Cold with a bitter breeze at all times, random iced-over sections on the sidewalks, and temperatures that were constantly below freezing, Cari hated every second.

She stormed into the room, grunting in response to Lydia's friendly greeting, and dumped the heavy armful of books on her desk. Cari flopped down in the chair, immediately slouching as she stared at the daunting pile of accumulated homework. On top of everything else the professors had assigned, she had a new essay from Professor Garbin, who was apparently determined to make up for any goodwill shown at the end of the first semester.

Just as Cari was complaining about this to Lydia and reaching for her first subject, her roommate shushed her violently. Cari turned to shoot the girl a murderous glare, but Lydia's attention was raptly fastened on the still-open door. "Do you hear that?" she asked in a hushed tone, staring vacantly out into the hallway.

Cari listened for roughly half a second. "No," she said flatly, opening the textbook.

"It sounds like someone crying." Lydia slid off of her bed, crossing lightly to the door and peering out carefully. "I think it's Kimber."

She started down the hall. Cari thought seriously about not going, but the idea of Kimber crying? Something had to be terribly, terribly wrong to make the normally-stoic girl break down. By the time Cari caught up with her roommate, Lydia was stopped outside of Kimber's door, listening intently. "Yeah, it's definitely her," she murmured. In a slightly louder voice, she asked, "Kimber? It's Lydia. Can we come in?"

There was slightly-muffled sniffling before Kimber's choked voice floated through the door, giving them permission. Sure enough, when they walked into the room, her eyes were red and a small collection of tissues surrounded the section of floor where she was sitting. Cari was instantly concerned. For Kimber to cry was one thing. After all, everyone cried sometimes. Naomi had taught her that some scientists believed crying was biologically necessary to release certain chemicals. However, the worrying part was that Kimber wasn't hiding from them. Their dorm-mate was very particular about keeping displays of emotion unseen by any of the other students. The fact that she was weeping openly was frightening.

Lydia headed straight to Kimber's spot on the floor, nudging the tissues out of the way with her foot before plopping down beside her. The shock was enough to put a momentary pause in Kimber's tears. "Why don't you tell us what happened?" Lydia encouraged. "It will make you feel better."

Kimber shook her head miserably, tightly hugging a pillow, but began to speak anyway. Her breathy voice was interrupted regularly by gasping hiccups, but Cari had no problem understanding, especially when she followed Lydia's lead and sat down near Kimber. "So, do you guys remember that Chayton and I were dancing at the Christmas party? Well, at the end of the night, he kissed me."

Lydia squealed. "I knew he liked you! I knew it!" Her excited voice dropped. "But wait, why does that make you sad? He's a great guy, and you two make a cute couple."

"I know he is!" Kimber cried. Her voice dropped with her next sad statement. "I don't want to be in a couple! I'm fine being single. What happened with Chayton was a mistake. I tried to explain that to him, but he didn't understand what I meant. He just got mad and stomped away and hasn't t-talked to me since."

Lydia's face softened sympathetically. "Oh, Kimber. I'm so sorry."

"But wait. If you don't want to be in a couple and he does, isn't it a good thing that you cleared it up?" Cari was confused by the girl's sadness.

Looking like Cari had just kicked a dog, Lydia said horrified, "Of course not! Kimber was scared by the idea of losing her independence and reflexively rejected Chayton before she could think about it rationally. Now, his feelings are hurt and it will be a while before she can get another chance at deciding whether she wants to be in a relationship or not."

Kimber looked utterly shocked. "How do you know all of this?"

"Are you kidding?" Cari asked. "She's been waiting to deal with a relationship crisis for years. This is what all of her training has been about."

Lydia made a face in their direction, but began to discuss what Kimber should do about the situation. Cari was uncertain of how their often-temperamental roommate would take the unsolicited advice, but Kimber seemed to be listening intently, stopping Lydia every few sentences to ask a question or offer more information. Since she didn't really have anything to add, Cari left quietly to work on her stack of assignments.

As she began reading through the latest chapter for Magical Heritage, Cari thought over Kimber's predicament. Admittedly, there had been a few awkward moments during the day that made much more sense now that she knew the reasons behind them.

* * *

The problems surrounding the romantic entanglements continued as the semester progressed. January was spent watching Chayton team up with Lionel to flirt with every female Echowick student in their year and beyond. They were soon the ladies' men of the school. They had both tried on multiple occasions to recruit Shadow to their group, but he had so far refused. Cari liked to believe that it was because his character wouldn't allow him to play on people's emotions, but knew it was more likely because he was still trying to impress Arsenia. For some reason, he seemed to enjoy having her around.

As if to hit home all of the relationship problems of the others, Tessa and Toby had finally started to date and were blissfully happy. In fact, they were so happy that a new rule had been instated: no couples could sit together at the table in the cafeteria without at least one person sitting between them. Even so, the two were almost always together. In a rare private moment with the girls, Tessa had admitted, "I never saw myself dating someone like him, but he's sweet and smart-"

"-And he's grown six inches since last May and his voice is half an octave lower than any of the other guys," Lydia interrupted helpfully.

With a loud burst of laughter, Tessa agreed, "Yeah, I won't lie; that did help move things along."

Uncomfortable with the recent trend toward dating in her social group, Cari threw herself into her schoolwork. Honestly, she was beginning to feel nervous about her lack of desire to be in a relationship. It seemed like that was all that anyone else thought about anymore. Luckily, there was plenty of work to be done. The professors were already laying the foundations for the finals scheduled for nearly half a year later. If nothing else, it certainly upped the stress level among the students.

Even the Broomsmith classes were growing steadily more intense. Cari had delved into Flight Theory on that first Friday and had found the topic completely fascinating. There were so many aspects of flight that were hotly debated. No one knew quite how they worked so everyone had a theory or two. It reminded Cari of the things she had heard her mother say about quantum mechanics when she and Daniel were having a discussion about parallel worlds.

During one class period, she had run into an interesting passage in her book _Broomsmithery: A Study of the Art and Science of Building Brooms_. It had read, _Some sensitive riders have reported feeling a type of connection with a broom. It is unclear whether this is an actual connection or just a trick of the wistful mind, but proponents of the idea insist on its plausibility. "After all," one_ _such proponent stated in an interview on the topic, "wands have the ability to connect to a specific witch or wizard. Why would a broom be different?" Experts remain unconvinced until some testable data is procured."_

Though it wasn't the most informative section Cari had ever read, it still got her started down a fascinating road. _Why are brooms different than wands?_ She asked herself, making a mental list of discrepancies between the two. _Well, wands are made of a wider variety of wood than brooms. Brooms have more runes than wands do. And of course, there's the magical core. But wait… Why couldn't a broom have a magical core?_

She puzzled over the idea for the rest of the class. She wanted desperately to ask if anyone else had ever thought of this particular idea, but Asher and Ransom were hard at work on their projects, helped along by Professor Gregory. Instead, she waited until class was over and went to the library, checking out every book she could find on types of brooms that had been built over the years, historically and recently. With the course load being what it was, Cari had to do her research in parts over the course of a few weeks, working whenever she had finished her other assignments. As far as she could tell, no one else had ever come up with this particular theory, but she wanted to do some more research on the practicality of it before she brought it up to Professor Gregory.

As the year moved along into February, the buzz around Echowick turned to the upcoming holiday. Cari had never thought much about Valentine's Day other than recognizing that her father always brought home a bouquet of flowers for her mother and that she and Byron received a small box of chocolates or candy. But now, Valentine's Day had far more to do with crushes, and who was dating who. The phrase 'secret admirer' was heard throughout the halls of the school, mostly whispered in longing tones by females of all ages, but sometimes used in plotting voices by people who jumped guiltily at any interruption.

The seventh years were once again selling plants to be given out during the day. The moly that Professor Tallet had grown last year had been such a success that the small plants were being sold again. From a conversation Cari overheard between two gleeful seventh years, sales had topped those of any previous year that the fundraiser had been going on.

Sure enough, when Valentine's Day came, almost every student she saw – male and female alike – was walking around with a small plant in a red, white, or pink pot. Of Cari's social group, Tessa and Toby had bought plants for each other and both thought the other was the sweetest person ever for doing so. Lionel and Chayton seemed to have spent an enormous amount of money buying moly for a number of female students, whether they were currently dating or not. _Although,_ Cari mused to herself, _it seems to have been money well spent._ Throughout the day, an assortment of girls had approached the heartbreaking pair, thanking them with words or a kiss on the cheek. There was once girl who blushed shyly as she expressed her gratitude to Lionel, but gave a wicked smile as she rose up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. Whatever she said made Lionel's cheeks burn and his eyes grow bright, but he shook his head and kindly turned her down. When asked what she had said, he just laughed awkwardly and refused to answer.

Heading to lunch, Kimber, Lydia, and Cari hadn't received any plants. They weren't the only students not to, but all still felt disappointed. _That's the bad part about not being in a relationship: no guarantee of attention on Valentine's Day. Complete and total freedom? Sure. Presents? No._

Things did not improve during the meal. Chayton and Lionel had a constant stream of girls pulling them away from the table and Kimber began to look steadily more miserable with each new female Chayton kissed. She looked ready to leave completely when a seventh-year arrived with a plant.

"Kimber Strickland?" he asked.

"I'm Kimber."

"Great! Here you go. Have a Happy Valentine's Day!" She carefully accepted the potted plant and he walked away.

"Ooh, who's it from?" Lydia asked excitedly.

Kimber checked the attached tag. "It's from Ransom Phillips."

Cari set her glass down with a sharp thud. "Ransom? I didn't know that you two even knew each other."

Seeming embarrassed, Kimber shrugged. "He came to the apartment looking for you one day, but you were in the library. I was headed up to the student lounge and he came along, so we watched a movie. We've hung out a few times since then and we always say hi when we pass in the hallway. Do you think he likes me, Cari?"

Cari looked at Lydia for help, but her roommate just shrugged and looked pointedly to Kimber and back. Her message was clear: _She's asking you, not me._ Cari sighed. "I can't say for sure, Kimber. We really don't talk all that much about anything other than brooms." Kimber's face fell and Cari hastily went on. "But if I had to take a guess, I would say yes, I think he does. Ransom isn't the kind of guy to just buy a girl a Valentine's gift for no reason. I mean, he's a nice guy, and I don't think he'd push you into anything, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, of course not!" She stared down at the plant, gently stroking its leaves. "He is a really nice guy. I like hanging out with him. Will you thank him for me, Cari? You'll see him before I will since your Broomsmith classes are tomorrow."

"No." Kimber's head snapped up and Cari smiled, glancing briefly over her dorm-mate's shoulder. "I mean, I would, but I think it's important for you to tell him yourself. And that should be easy since he's coming over here right now."

Kimber's eyes widened, but Ransom had already approached behind her. "Good afternoon, ladies. Hey, Romana." Cari returned his chin-jerk with a grin as the third-year settled into the seat next to Kimber. "So, I see they delivered my plant. Is this okay?" he asked, indicating the plant before letting his hand settle onto hers. Cari had to smile. She had never seen Ransom this sincere, his dark eyes soft.

A half-smile playing around her lips, Kimber nodded. "It's okay. Thank you very much. May I speak to you in private?" He nodded and they rose, Lydia pouting as the pair left.

"Seriously? This is the closest I've been to actual romance and they're going to leave for the sake of privacy?" Lydia raved, outraged.

"Wait a minute!" Tessa pouted from her place one seat away from Toby. "Is there a reason we didn't count as actual romance?"

"Please," Lydia said dismissively. "Everyone knew the two of you were going to happen. Those two were completely unexpected. It was wonderful… Until they oh-so rudely left."

"What two?" Chayton asked, sitting back down. His eyes caught the plant and he stopped in the middle of smoothing his ruffled-up hair. "Whose plant?"

"Kimber's," Lydia said in an overly-innocent voice. "From her lovely third-year." Catching sight of Cari's face at the description of Ransom, Lydia burst into laughter. "For Merlin's sake, Romana! You have to recognize that he and his brother are pretty good-looking guys."

Cari made a face. "Believe it or not, I have other things to focus on in my classes."

"I doubt that, but it's okay. You don't have to understand their attractiveness, just as long as Kimber does. And she definitely does."

A few minutes later, Kimber returned to the table with a sappy-looking smile on her face, though she tried to hide it. "What is that all about?" Chayton asked, voice sharp.

"A Valentine's gift from a friend, nothing too important."

"Yeah, some friend. You know he only wants in your pants, right?" Chayton's tone had moved from sharp to ugly. Shadow, sitting next to him, tried to calm his friend down, but Chayton shook the hand from his shoulder.

Evenly, with a blank face, Kimber said, "Just because that's all you're interested in doesn't mean that everyone else wants the same thing. Some people care a little more deeply than that."

Cari made shocked eye contact with Lydia, who looked just as taken aback. _This certainly puts their disagreement into better perspective. I knew it couldn't just be that Kimber was afraid to be in a relationship! Ugh. Poor Kimber…_

Chayton's face darkened and he opened his mouth nastily, but Lydia shushed him before he'd made a single sound. "Shhh! A seventh-year is walking over here with another pot!"

"That's nice, Lydia," Chayton said, voice sarcastic, "but-"

"But nothing. Kimber's right, you're wrong. Now shut up! This could be for one of us."

Chayton stood angrily, chair flying back and almost hitting the approaching seventh-year girl. Without another word, he stomped from the cafeteria. Lydia rolled her eyes at Cari and Kimber before returning her attention to the seventh-year. "I have a plant here for Lydia-"

The second-year in question rose and plucked the delivery from the girl's hand. "I'm Lydia Abrams. Thank you!" She blinked at them for a moment before leaving, face still somewhat bewildered.

"So? Who sent it?" Cari asked, unwittingly mimicking Lydia's earlier question to Kimber.

Lydia quickly scanned the tag, smoothed it out, read it again more slowly, and a smile began to spread over her face. Letting out an ecstatic squeal, she exclaimed, "It's from my mom and dad!" She laughed happily and hugged the small white-potted plant to her chest.

Everyone at the table was beaming, sharing in Lydia's happiness, but Cari felt a pang in her chest. For such a small thing to mean so much, Lydia had to be completely starved for affection. There was no other explanation for it. Not for the first time, Cari felt sorry for her beautiful, popular roommate. Lydia deserved so much more. She shook herself soon after. Holidays weren't the time to dwell on sad situations. They were days to be happy, and she was going to be happy for her friend.

Later, as Cari and Lydia were walking back from Herbology, a shadow loomed across their path. Cari looked up into the cold, unfriendly eyes of Ravinger Kaine. "Well, well. Look at the little firsties, walking around like they own the place."

Fighting back a shiver that was only partly due to the cold, Cari rolled her eyes at the older boy. "First thing, we're in second year. And also, it's cold. Walking fast lets you get back to the heat sooner and stopping for conversations does not. We'll be moving along."

He moved to intercept them. "But we so rarely get the chance to talk, Romana. Especially without any of your Quidditch friends hanging around. And what's this?" he asked, reaching with one long arm to snag the plant from Lydia's gloved hands.

"Hey!" she shouted, trying to move past Cari. "Give that back!"

He turned the plant in his hands, easily evading Lydia, and read the tag aloud. "'To: Lydia. Love, Mom and Dad.' How sweet. You know the best thing about these pots? They smash very easily."

Lydia looked ready to burst into tears as Ravinger held her plant high above his head, arm curled and ready to launch it down against the frozen ground. "Give it back, Kaine!" Cari snarled in a voice even she didn't recognize.

"Or what?" he taunted. "I can break this into a hundred pieces before you can ever dig out your wand. Not that you would have the guts to jinx me, anyway."

"If you break that, I will hurt you. I don't know how, but trust me, I will get you back. It might be tomorrow, it might be next month, it might be ten years from now. I am an extremely persistent person and I don't forgive anyone. Do you really want to be watching your back for the rest of your last year here and beyond? Wouldn't it be easier to give the plant back and be on your way?"

Ravinger started to say something flip, but paused as his eyes searched her face. Cari knew very well the expression she was wearing, and it wasn't a pleasant one. He lowered the arm slightly, but a voice cut through the high tension. "Students! What is going on here?"

Professor Tallet approached and Ravinger immediately lowered his arm. "I haven't gotten the chance to see one of these plants yet and I was curious."

"I have an entire crop of them in my greenhouses, Mr. Kaine. You are more than welcome to come and see them if you're that curious."

"No, thank you. I think I've seen everything I needed to."

"Then you may return Miss Abrams' plant, Mr. Kaine."

Wordlessly, Ravinger handed Lydia her plant back. Cradling it, Lydia rushed off toward the Physical Wing. Cari followed with an appreciative smile at Professor Tallet. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Lydia answered. "Did you just make a death threat to a guy who already hates you to save a plant that would have probably survived a fall?"

"Well, technically, I never threatened to kill him. I just said that I would hurt him." Even to Cari, it sounded like she was splitting hairs a bit. A threat was a threat, after all.

Lydia stared at her for a moment before hugging her tightly. "I know it's just a plant, and I know we could have fixed the pot if we had to, but thank you. I've never had anyone stand up for me before. You're a good friend, Cari."

Awkwardly, Cari patted Lydia's back. "Anytime, Lydia. You're important to me. Besides, he was only messing with you because you were with me. You don't deserve that."

Thankfully, they were close to their apartment. "Cari, look!" Following the direction Lydia was pointing, Cari found that a red-potted moly plant was sitting on the ground next to their door.

Carefully, she picked it up and twisted her wrist to read the tag. _To the lovely Licaria Romana_ , it said simply. There was no signature and she told Lydia this. "A secret admirer! You're so lucky!"

Cari laughed as she opened the door to their apartment. "Lydia, don't get excited. It's probably just from my dad. Maybe he just forgot to have them add his signature."

Lydia strode quickly to her trunk, expanded it into the wardrobe, and began to dig through it, stopping only when she was holding a small, silvery rectangle. "Here," she said, holding it out. "My parents got me a cell phone for Christmas. They took it to some expert in electronics and magic, and he spelled it to work here. There's just not very much battery. Anyway! Here, call your dad and ask."

She would have argued, but the look in Lydia's eyes warned that she wouldn't get very far. Cari gave in and dialed the number to the security office from memory. Pat answered the phone. "Princess Cari! How are you doin', honey?"

"Fine, Pat. How are you? Listen, I need to talk to my dad really quick, if that's okay."

"Sure it is! You called just in time. He's getting ready to leave."

A collection of scraping and shuffling noises carried over the line before Daniel said, "Cari?"

"Hey, Dad. Did you send me a plant for Valentine's Day?"

"Uh… no. They're selling plants?"

He sounded sincere, but Cari liked to be sure. "Do you promise? You really didn't send me one?"

"Oh, Cari. I'm so sorry. If I had known they were selling anything for Valentine's Day, I would have bought you something, but no one tells us anything out here." Pat shouted something in the background and when Daniel spoke again, it was with a smile in his voice. "Pat says to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day. I do too. I hope it was a good one and your mother and I love you."

Cari would have pressed further about the plant, but Lydia's phone let out a warning beep, so she just assured Daniel that her feelings weren't heard, sent her love to her parents, and hung up the phone. Lydia was standing nearby, an expectant look on her face. "You weren't kidding about the battery."

"No, I wasn't. What did he say?" Apparently, Lydia refused to be sidetracked.

"He didn't send it." Lydia cheered excitedly, but Cari was far more cautious. "I have no idea who would send me a plant. What if it's booby trapped or something?"

" _Finite incantatum!_ " Lydia cried, aiming her wand at the plant. Nothing happened. "There you go, not cursed or jinxed." She eyed Cari critically, "Maybe you just wanted it to be because now, you have to admit that someone must like you." Giggling at the face Cari made, Lydia dramatically flung an arm over her forehead as she collapsed on her bed. "Oh, that all of life's problems were so hard!"

That coaxed a reluctant chuckle from Cari and soon, both roommates were lying on their beds laughing until their sides ached.

* * *

Author's Note \- In case anyone's wondering, this new year brings us into 2008. We're getting ever-closer! Happy Kwanzaa today, and I hope everyone had a wonderful few days. I know it was a little hectic for me, but things won't slow down until we get into 2017. I apologize for the bleakness of some of this chapter, but this is always how I feel after Christmas. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter and I'll see you guys on Thursday!

P.S: I didn't mean for Cari's confrontation with Ravinger to sound Taken-esque, but that's how it read back to me. Hope it didn't come off too cheesy!


	31. Worries

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related books, storylines, characters, plots, etc. All of the aforementioned are the property of J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story and make no profit from the writing or posting of such.

Worries (31)

Easter break had come and gone, accompanied by blooming flowers, lots of candy, and more rain than anyone knew what to do with. Once again, Cari remained at Echowick. Lydia had gone home to be with her parents, but Cari was joined for the break by Fletchmeister, Tess, Toby, Chayton, Shadow, and – thankfully – not Arsenia. It had been lovely and relaxing. Since Easter fell so early this year, not even the end of March yet, the students had pulled one full-day shift in the library on Friday, finished all of their homework, and been free to spend the next three days doing whatever they so chose... Well, as long as what they wanted to do didn't involve going outside. The rapidly-flooding campus was no one's favorite place to spend time.

When the rest of the students came back on Monday night, conversations had been lively, except for Chayton, who left to go sulk in one of the student lounges. Kimber's budding relationship with Ransom Phillips obviously wasn't his favorite thing to be around. Privately, Cari thought he was just angry that he had messed up and Kimber had benefitted from it, but she certainly wasn't going to say anything like that out loud. The rest of the week ended up being less than pleasant, as teachers began to encourage intense studying for the upcoming finals. _Not that they haven't constantly been telling us to study harder all year long_ , Cari mulled grumpily.

Unsurprisingly, but still irritating, Pitt was up to his old tricks once more, this time including his cronies. Cari had been tripped, shoulder-checked, 'accidentally' hit with several flying objects that were supposedly meant to fly over her head, and once, even spat upon. The last had been the closest she had ever come to jinxing someone, but restrained herself at the last second. Instead, she had used a useful spell taught by Mr. Kreer to clean and disinfect the area. The fact that it flung the spit back at the crony in question was simply a happy side effect. Ravinger had been threatening as well, though he was too smart to say or do anything when someone was around. Instead, he mostly limited himself to glares, violent gestures, or menacing grins. Frankly, Cari didn't know which bully was worse, but the game on Friday was starting to cause more and more stress in her life.

Still, Friday had been a good day. Cari's Broomsmith classes were really getting interesting. Flight theory was one of her favorite things to learn about, and she found herself puzzling over different things she had read about even when she wasn't in class. She had yet to make any progress on the wand-core broom idea. It seemed that no one else had ever attempted to do something like it. One of the things she had been learning about was the effect of carved runes on broomsticks. The magically-enhanced ones had obvious benefits, but there were many people who believed that any rune on a broomstick could have effects on the way it flew. With this in mind, Cari asked Professor Gregory if she could carve a rune into the broom she had adopted as her own, but he shut her down.

"I'm sorry, Miss Romana, but I simply cannot allow it. Besides the fact that the broom is school property, there is also very little research into what effect the carved runes can have on the magically-placed ones. We couldn't risk the new carving interfering with the efficiency of the runes that are used to keep the broom safely in the air. You understand, yes?"

After a twenty-minute discussion and a great deal of argument, Cari had reluctantly agreed that it probably wasn't the best idea to do something with unknown effects on something as dangerous as a broom, especially the day before a big game. And a big game it promised to be. It was the last match of the season for the Physical Wing, and it was against their arch-rivals: the Politics Wing.

With this in mind, Cari took a half-hour to work on some homework before she went to the cafeteria for a slightly early dinner. She wanted plenty of time to rest before the game. At the second-year table, she found that Shadow seemed to have had the same idea. Only minutes later, they were joined by most of the group, with the exception of Kimber, who was sitting at the fourth-year table with Ransom, and Chayton. When she asked where the irritable boy was, Fletchmeister just sighed.

"He's either chasing some girl or sulking about Kimber in one of the student lounges. I don't know which, but those are the only two things he does these days." Fletchmeister's voice was shockingly jaded and Cari looked at him in surprise. When had her happy-go-lucky friend grown so cynical?

"Yeah…" Tessa drawled slowly. "I'm not super impressed with Chayton lately. He's kind of turning into a douchebag." Everyone gaped at her, but Tessa just shrugged. "Sorry, but he is. It's not like he's here, and the cafeteria is too loud for Kimber to hear us."

"You're right. About both things, actually!" Lydia agreed. "The way he's been talking to Kimber lately? Ridiculous! He's gone way over the line."

Shadow sighed. "Okay, you guys are going to have to promise that you'll never tell Chayton what I'm about to say, but he's had a hard life." The rest of the group settled into silence and began to pay attention as Shadow went on. "Chayton grew up on an Indian reservation with his aunt. No one's sure if she's really related to him, but she's been taking care of him since he was an infant because his mother abandoned him. His aunt is a very nice lady, but she has too many people depending on her. Chayton sees her maybe once every week during the holidays."

Everyone was now hanging on Shadow's every word. Thankfully, he didn't keep them waiting long before he continued. "His father would have raised him, but jobs on the reservation are incredibly scarce and he had to leave so that he could make the money to support his family. You think he's spoiled or selfish? Uncaring? He lives in a two-bedroom apartment with eight other people, never really knowing who is going to be staying in the house that night or whether he'll have somewhere to sleep. Most nights, he just stays outside. And that's nothing compared to the food situation. Chayton never knows if he's going to be able to eat tomorrow. His aunt has a garden and she grows food to stretch their budget, but with so many people to feed, it is never enough."

He shook his head. "I know it doesn't excuse the way he's been acting, but Chayton's never had a place of his own, with people he considers 'his', and suddenly, someone he cared about was seemingly taken from him. I mean, he's had a crush on Kimber since the day we all came to take our Entrance Exams. Then one night, he screws up, tries to move too fast – mind you, that's how things are done where he grew up – and then he's suddenly lost the girl he cares about."

No one said a word. In the silence, Cari grimaced and said, "That's really horrible, and I hate that he had to go through it, but Kimber is unbelievably happy with Ransom. He really likes her, too. I just don't see how the situation can be spun so that everyone gets to be with someone they deserve."

"I know it sucks and I know it's an impossible situation," Shadow said resignedly. "I'm not asking any of you to pull a magical fix for it out of thin air. I'm just asking that you have a little patience with him and try to see where's he's coming from. I've already spoken to him about the way he's been acting toward Kimber. Fletch and Eric have, too. He's coming around. If you guys can just talk to Kimber and make sure she doesn't hate the guy, things won't have to be awkward."

One by one, the group slowly agreed that they could do something like this. Admittedly, some were more reluctant than others, but in the end, even ultra-protective Tessa admitted that it would be best for everyone if Chayton and Kimber could at least remain civil. With that settled, most of the students went to the student lounge to hang out, working off the plan that Chayton might be there and they could begin to establish a truce. However, with an early morning the next day, both Cari and Shadow elected to go back to their own rooms and get some extra sleep.

The next morning, Cari was already prepped, suited up, and ready to go by the time the pre-game checks started. Her broom was flying like a dream and not a single thing was out of place. She and Professor Gregory had just touched down when she saw Shadow hurrying along to the Physical Wing locker rooms. _Wow, he's running pretty late,_ she thought, striding over to him after signaling Gregory.

"Hey, Shadow! Did you oversleep?" Cari called out as she walked over to intercept her friend. Up close, she had to fight to keep her expression blank. He looked terrible. His face was ashen, dark circles standing out under his eyes. They had both gone to bed early the night before, but it seemed that Cari was the only one to have gotten a decent night's sleep. Still, she tried to lift his spirits, saying jokingly, "Wow, I've never seen such a pale shadow before."

She laughed at her own joke, but Shadow only smiled weakly. In a more serious tone, she asked, "Shadow, seriously. You look like you didn't get any sleep at all last night. I'm kind of worried you're going to keel over before you step out onto the pitch. What's wrong?"

He sighed, drawing a hand down over his face. "It's nothing. Just- Well, Captain Rossi came to talk to me last night right before I went to bed. He said that he wasn't going to say anything, but decided that I should know so I can be on my guard." Shadow's gaze had been slowly drifting downward as he rambled, and by the end, he was staring firmly at the ground. "Rossi said that, since I was the top scorer in the game last week, the Politics Wing's major play is going to involve targeting me. Gunning for me, specifically."

Cari tried to scoff. "How could Niccolo know, really? I mean, the Politics Team isn't likely to go around telling the opposition what all of their plans are. Maybe he just heard something and took it the wrong way?"

Shadow shook his head. "Kaine has been keeping things pretty close to the chest, but the members of the Politics Team have been spreading it around school. I guess they've been making comments about how everyone should get their autographs now, since I won't be around very much longer to sign anything else." He made eye contact with Cari for the first time since the conversation started. "I'm scared, Cari."

Her heart, already beating too quickly because of the threat, nearly stopped when his voice broke as he admitted his fear. Tamping down her own worries, she smiled. "If I were the captain of a Quidditch team, I'm pretty sure I would spread around what I wasn't going to do. Then, when people were watching for me to do what I said I was going to, I would do something else. In all honestly, you're probably going to be the safest person out there!"

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off, still looking uneasy. "If something does happen…"

Don't worry," she reassured him over the sudden tightening in her throat. "You're going to do just fine. Nothing's going to happen, I promise."

"But how can you know that for sure?" he asked, frustrated and frightened.

Cari grabbed his shoulder, squeezing as tightly as she could manage. The pain seemed to shock him slightly, and he glanced from her hand to her face as she said, "Because I'm going to be out there. I'll keep an eye on you; make sure no one does anything to hurt you. If I even think they're getting close, I'll tell Professor Gregory and we'll get the problem taken care of."

It took a moment for him to process that. For what felt like an eternity, he stood staring at her. Eventually, though, Shadow smiled softly as he shook his head. "I don't know how you do it, Romana, but somehow, I'm sure you will." Some of his color had returned and when her friend strode off toward the Physical Team's locker room, Cari noted that the confidence had returned to his movements.

A short time later, everyone was gathered on the field, preparing for kickoff. As the countdown started, Shadow made a split second of nervous eye contact with Cari, who took the opportunity to wink exaggeratedly at him. They both smiled and the game officially began.

Cari and Professor Gregory had agreed that she should circle the lower part of the Pitch, watching for any unusually-angled fouls. It made sense, seeing as most offenses took place at the upper levels of the pitch and could easily be caught by the Professor. Though the agreement had been fine with her when Gregory had first submitted it to her, now it was a cause for great relief. With less pressure on her to catch any fouls, Cari was free to watch Shadow, making sure that none of the Politics Team made any overt moves against him.

Pitt, being himself, still tried to hit a few Bludgers down her direction, but Cari ignored him. Since she was so far away from the players, the flying bowling ball equivalents would only zoom a few yards in her direction before halting and zooming back. Once, a Bludger nearly collided with Pitt on its way back to the main action. After that, he made no real moves against her and Cari was relieved. Concentrating as she was, the constant hits in her direction were an irritating distraction that she did not need.

Regardless, no one was making any moves toward Shadow. She had been keeping a vigilant watch on him, but all she had seen so far was that he was truly an excellent player. The game itself seemed to be moving oddly slowly, the scores staying almost even for the most part. The strangest thing was the fouling rate. More specifically, fouls were being committed at a ridiculously slow rate. The crowds were noticing the phenomenon as well. When Cari circled up to be even with the lower portions of the stands, she could hear some of the students expressing their disappointment. If there was one reason to come to a Physical vs. Politics Quidditch game, it was to see and enjoy the wide variety of fouls made against the other team.

All of a sudden, the tide of the game turned. Fouls were being committed back-to-back, and the flurry of whistles and shouts from the stands mingled until Cari was dizzy. The radio on her shoulder had been going off constantly for several minutes, Professor Gregory shouting rapidly about various fouls and whether Cari had seen them. She hadn't seen many of them as they weren't being committed near Shadow, who she was watching more than any other player.

"Get up to my height, Cari! You have got to starting seeing some of the fouls! If you aren't able to, they might have to revoke your student referee status. Get up here and start making some calls through me… Now!"

Obeying her teacher and fellow referee, Cari pulled her broom up sharply, rising nearly straight up until she was level with Gregory. Carefully, she stayed on the opposite side of the pitch as he did, slowly circling with him. She kept her eyes on Shadow, constantly checking that no one was gunning for him any more than the other Physical Team players. This caused her to miss several more fouls, and now people were beginning to shout at her by name from the stands, mixed with chanting and cheering for players or teams.

"Cari!" the radio on her shoulder shouted. "Get in there. You're missing all of it!"

Pulling her eyes from Shadow, Cari searched the action on the pitch. "There!" she shouted through her radio. "Call a foul on Ravinger Kaine! He's blagging Niccolo Rossi!"

Clearly, she had seen Ravinger grabbing the tail of Niccolo's broom with both hands, gripping as tightly as possible. Niccolo, unprepared for the sudden motion, had lurched forward dangerously and lost his grip on the Quaffle. Immediately, it had been swept up by one of the Politics Team Chasers and they were well on their way to scoring a goal.

Professor Gregory's voice, when it came through the radio, was surprisingly hesitant. "Cari, are- Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, yes! He was blagging, I saw it with my own eyes!" The whistle screeched and Gregory's voice rang out, declaring a foul against Ravinger. Screams rang out from around the Pitch and Cari spun her broom in place, searching until she found what had caught everyone's attention: a familiar-looking blond figure was rapidly descending from a still-hovering broom. "Shadow!" she screamed.

Professor Gregory sprang into action. He sped over to the correct side of the small stadium, moving faster than Cari had seen anyone fly before. Within seconds, he had seized his wand and slowly levitated the unconscious Shadow down to the ground of the Quidditch pitch. Just before Shadow touched the thick grass, a slightly quieter wave of cheers rang out. Still on her broom, but notably closer to the ground than she had been, Cari looked around once more for the cause of the excitement.

Asher held the Snitch above his head triumphantly, but sobered immediately as he noticed what was happening down on the lower level of the stadium. One by one, the members of both Quidditch teams touched down, gathering in two distinct groups. The Physical Wing circled around Shadow's unmoving form, muttering worriedly while the Politics Wing huddled off to one side, trying to figure out what had happened. Cari tried to stand over in the group near Shadow, gravely concerned with her friend, but none of the players would move enough to let her through.

When they finally drew back to expose Shadow, it was only due to Headmistress Fleet's commanding presence. "Step away, please," she demanded, calm voice cutting through the noise of the curious students. "I need all of the Quidditch players from both teams to stand on the other side of the Pitch, near the Politics locker room. Professor Gregory, Miss Romana, both of you will stay with me." Everyone rushed to do as she said, and it was only a few short minutes later when Cari stood with Professor Gregory and Professor Fleet.

She appeared collected as she gently patted her hair, pulled up into a bun on the top of her head, but Cari was close enough to see her slightly-shaking hand. "I don't know how all of this happened and I don't expect that you do, either, but as soon as we get Mr. Hale taken care of, I will need to speak with both of you in my office." Fleet looked considering as she added, "Along with anyone else who was a part of the action as well. Professor Gregory, can you get together those who were involved?"

He nodded and walked across the pitch, tugging his robes straight once more. Doctor Combes arrived shortly after, teal eyes serious as he knelt down and began to examine Shadow. While checking his pulse, Combes asked, "Does anyone know what happened?"

Fleet shook her head. "There was a foul called just before he fell and none of us happened to see what caused it."

"Okay, that will determine what kind of treatment he needs. I'll see what I can-" he broke off with a hiss of sympathy as his hands gently raised Shadow's head from where it had been resting on the ground. When Fleet asked for the reason behind the noise, the doctor let Shadow's head loll back on the ground, this time turned to the side. Combes stood, brushing off his pants. As he began to levitate Shadow, he explained, "Mr. Hale has a large bump already forming at the base of his skull. It looks as though he was hit there quite hard. Are you sure that no one saw anything?"

"I can check again, but I spoke with many of the professors before I came down here and none claimed to have seen any reason for him to have fallen. Are you sure the bump was caused by a recent trauma?"

"Extremely." He sifted fingers through Shadow's hair once more – when had it gotten so long? – and nodded. "Yes, the bump has already increased in size since I first discovered it."

"Very well. If you would transport him to the Hospital Wing for treatment, we can get him away from the gazes of other students." Doctor Combes began the walk back down to the Hospital Building. Professor Fleet turned to Cari. "Miss Romana, Professor Gregory is on his way back with our other witnesses. If you would please come along to my office?"

Cari nodded and followed behind the Headmistress, watching Shadow's unconscious form until the last possible moment.

Author's Note \- Okay, we need to talk about Chayton. I have several close friends who grew up on Indian reservations. While this account was made mostly through research, it lines up with everything they've told me. It's horrible that people have to live this way (and these conditions aren't limited by race, either), but it doesn't excuse Chayton's actions. The explanation of his background was only to give context for why he reacts to certain things in unpredictable ways. Shadow loves his friend, but he's not making excuses, just asking the rest of his friends to be patient. Enough about all of that, though.

Some of you may feel we're rushing through the second half of the year, but this was the time when I felt the need to start really moving things along. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry to leave it on a kind of cliffhanger. Enjoy your New Year and I'll see you Monday!


	32. Plans

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related franchises, spinoffs, or efforts to such an endeavor. I am the creator only of the original elements of this story, the rest belongs to J.K. Rowling and her publisher.

* * *

Plans

"The first thing I need," Fleet explained, "Is for someone to tell me what happened."

"If you don't mind," Professor Gregory said, stepping forward, "I believe I have a fair account of what happened. At the beginning of the day, I had told Miss Romana to circle the lower half of the pitch, watching for anything that wouldn't be visible from above. I began pressing her to watch closely for a foul since there were so many happening all at once and I was getting overwhelmed. In the end, I told her to join me further up so she could help me keep the fouls to a minimum. Once she flew to the upper level, she told me that she had seen a blagging foul occurring between Ravinger Kaine and Niccolo Rossi."

"Wait a minute," Niccolo cut in. "Was that what the foul whistle was about? Because I don't think Kaine blagged me. He made plenty of other fouls during today's match," he added with a glare at the other boy, "but he genuinely didn't do that one."

"Why did you think he did?" Professor Gregory asked curiously.

"Because I watched him do it! I don't know how you didn't feel that," Cari said to Niccolo. "You nearly lost balance and fell off your broom!"

He glanced confusedly at Professor Gregory, who said haltingly, "Miss Romana, I looked at these two as soon as you called the foul, but I didn't see any foul. Actually, I didn't see Mr. Kaine in the area at all. I don't know what could have made you think-"

Ravinger cleared his throat self-importantly, speaking in smug tones, "If you want to know what I believe happened, Cari here was unable to deal with the fact that the members of my team were getting ready to turn the tides of the match and win the match, thus putting us in the lead for the trophy this year." He turned to face Headmistress Fleet directly. "In case it wasn't obvious before, I would like to formally contest the Physical Team's win."

After a moment, Professor Fleet sighed. "I suppose I cannot argue that. I will put the matter under investigation and keep both teams apprised of the results." He opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. "That is all I will promise you, Mr. Kaine. Now, if you three would excuse us, Miss Romana and I have another matter to discuss in private."

All three males stood and filed out of Professor Fleet's office. Professor Gregory and Niccolo looked awkwardly sympathetic as they left. As awful as that was, it couldn't compare with the rage-inducing sight of the smirk Ravinger cast on his way out.

"Miss Romana," Fleet began, settling into the seat across from Cari. "Unfortunately, there are several things that are going to happen after this incident, and none of them are pleasant."

"Uh… Professor Fleet, I thought you said we had to talk about something else?"

She smiled sadly. "If I had told them that we had to talk about everything that had just happened, you wouldn't believe the kinds of rumors that would begin flying around about you." Cari nodded nervously and the Professor continued. "There were agreements put into place when we made you the student broomcare expert and referee-in-training, and there are repercussions. There are two major points against you at this point: One is that you made a call with no apparent basis in fact, which speaks of a bias toward your own team. Two, this false call directly caused a student to be injured."

Cari leaned forward, surveying the Headmistress intently. "Professor Fleet, I swear that I saw Ravinger Kaine holding onto the tail of Niccolo Rossi's broom. Niccolo almost fell off of his broom. I don't know how no one else saw it, but it was very clear to me. I promise, it wasn't me being biased. For Merlin's sake, the injured student was on my own Wing's team! He's one of my best friends! Why would I want to be responsible, even indirectly, for him getting hurt?"

A sympathetic look crossed Fleet's face as she said gently, "I believe you, Miss Romana. Nothing I have ever seen from you indicates that you are even capable of making a dishonest call. But still, my opinion of you personally will never be held as a viable defense in court." At Cari's expression, she hastily added, "Not that you're going to be called up before a court! It's just an expression. But still, a formal investigation must be made since these offenses are so serious. Unless you are found innocent of all charges, a negative note has to be added to your file along with immediate cessation of all refereeing activities from you or any student at Echowick in the future. The North American Wizarding Tribunal takes incidents like this one very seriously."

"North American- Never mind. That might be a question for later. What all do I have to do for this formal investigation?" In stressful situations, Cari liked relying on the facts alone.

"Do? You do not do anything. The formal investigation is conducted by Professor Gregory and myself, likely with a Tribunal representative or two just to keep things official. We'll question students, try to determine if anyone else witnessed what you claimed happened, and then make a judgment from there. Of course, if you have any evidence of your innocence, you may turn it in as soon as possible."

Cari laughed joylessly. "If I had any evidence, would I really be sitting here right now?"

An incline of Fleet's head was the only recognition of her point. "As of this moment, Miss Romana, you are banned from any and all activities having to do with the care and upkeep of the Echowick school brooms, along with any referee duties. You are formally dismissed from tomorrow's scheduled broom care session and, on Friday, you may only fulfill the parts of your usual day that pertain to your Broomsmith classes." Dropping the formal tone, she consoled, "Don't worry about the school brooms. We have two weeks before the next game, so there is plenty of time for Professor Gregory and your two classmates to care for the brooms before they will be used again."

"Wait, so me making a call against another team is considered biased, but Asher and Ransom can take care of the brooms they're going to ride and it isn't considered a conflict of interest?" Cari knew she was potentially shooting her Wingmates in the foot, but the unfairness was getting to her.

"Yes, we discussed that when the Echowick Board decided that the Broomsmith class should take on the broomcare duties, but there really is no chance for sabotage with the way the system is currently set up. You see, the brooms are all stored in a neutral location, the broom shed, until just before the match, when they are divided between the playing Wings by me. Students only have a few minutes with the broom before kickoff. Not enough time to make any drastic changes." After giving her small speech, Fleet stood. "Miss Romana, you are dismissed. I will keep you informed of any progress made in the investigation." Cari didn't like it, but there was little she could do other than thank the Headmistress and begin the walk back to the dorms.

Once she was back at her apartment, Cari found Lydia and Kimber waiting for her in the room. "Cari!" Lydia cried, standing immediately. "What happened? How's Shadow?"

"Shadow? I have no idea. They took him to the Hospital Building."

Kimber seemed confused. "Wait… You weren't at the Hospital Building? That's where we thought you'd been for the past hour and a half."

Cari sighed, sinking down onto her bed and pulling her pillow up over her face. She let her eyes close for a moment, but began to fall asleep until a sharp noise came from Lydia. Voice muffled by the pillow, she explained, "I was in Fleet's office. I made a call on Ravinger Kaine, but apparently, I'm the only one who saw it. While Professor Gregory and I were fighting about there being a foul, Shadow fell, probably after being hit. Doctor Combes said he has a knot on the back of his head."

Both girls made noises of distress. "But if Shadow is at the Hospital Building, why were you in the Headmistress' office?" It was a good question from Lydia.

Cari sighed, nearly smothering herself on accident, and explained what was going on. Both girls were soothingly outraged on her behalf. "Don't worry, Cari," Kimber said pacifyingly, "There's no way you can get in trouble for making a bad call. Referees do that all of the time, and none of them ever land in trouble."

"I don't know, Fleet sounded pretty worried about the North American Wizarding Tribunal, whatever that is."

"The Tribunal is involved?" Lydia seemed caught between being impressed and nervous. "As to what they are, you've heard of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic, right? The Tribunal, or NAWT for short, is the North American equivalent."

"Great. The wizarding government is going to get me." Cari let her hands fall from the pillow onto the mattress. The room was quiet for another long moment and she silently relished the coolness of the cloth on her face. A sudden thought occurred to her and she leaned halfway up, pushing the pillow away. "Hey, why aren't you guys at the Hospital Building? I would have thought you would be with Shadow."

"Don't think we didn't try!" Lydia said with a scowl. "We stood around outside of the Hospital Building for almost an hour, but Doctor Combes wouldn't let any of us in. That's why we thought you were inside with Fleet."

Cari pushed herself up fully and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Well, let's go check again. If Combes won't let us in, maybe he can give us a time that we can come back and visit Shadow."

It turned out to be a mostly pointless mission. After a solid five minutes of knocking on the locked Hospital Building door, Doctor Combes poked his head out of his office window and told them that no students were to be allowed inside unless it was a medical emergency. Cari, signaling everyone else to stay behind, approached the still-open window.

"Doctor Combes! How are you doing lately? It's been a while."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Yes, I haven't seen you since the Forgetfulness Potion incident. Seems like you're staying out of trouble."

Cari toed the ground, avoiding the doctor's gaze. "Well, not exactly… But we're not here to talk about me! Is there anything you can tell me about Shadow Hale?"

"Nope," he said, drawing his head back inside the building.

"Wait!" Cari cried. He paused, looking back at her. She spoke quickly. "He was scared before the game, said that the Politics Team was going to be trying to come against him, specifically. He told me about it and I promised to keep an eye on him." She let some tears spring to her eyes, thickening her voice. "I promised that nothing would happen and something did. It's all my fault. Please. Please let me talk to him and apologize."

Combes watched her for a moment before leaning back out of the window. Obligingly, she stepped closer and he said softly, "I wouldn't worry too much about Mr. Hale holding any grudges against you. Do you happen to recall the consequences of the Forgetfulness Potion? I cannot tell you any specifics, but Mr. Hale is experiencing many of the same symptoms. I have to keep him overnight for observation and he'll likely have to stay here for much of tomorrow, but as soon as his symptoms abate, he will be free to go." He raised his voice once more. "Now, I told you all: Unless it is a medical emergency, please leave my Hospital alone! Goodbye!" He gave Cari the barest hint of a wink. She nodded and left, beckoning her friends to follow as she walked through the group.

On their way back to the Physical Wing student lounge, several students cast dirty looks at their little crowd, Cari in particular. One even went so far as to hiss, "What, Combes wouldn't let you in to finish the job, Mongrel?"

Eric and Chayton wanted to stay in the area and find the student who had said it, but Cari and Lydia pulled everyone away. Once they were safely in the deserted second-year student lounge, Cari told everyone what she had learned from the doctor. "Temporary amnesia?" Tessa asked. "But doesn't that hint toward brain damage of some kind?"

Fletchmeister stared at her. "Why are you asking us? You're the one training to be a Healer!"

She made a face at him, but didn't ask any more questions of the group. With a few final comments expressing worry for Shadow, the group awkwardly moved on to different topics. Cari was happy to see that Chayton was fitting back in with the group rather well, though her concern for Shadow's well-being slightly dominated the sullen boy's return and Kimber's lack of offense to it.

The next day was about as far from a lazy Sunday as Cari had ever experienced, despite the lack of supplemental work. It was her first Sunday off since the beginning of the year, but she couldn't sleep. She wasn't very hungry, so she decided to go straight to the library, logging some time studying for the upcoming finals. Lydia found her sitting there, hours later, but motioned for her to stay seated before she could gather her things and stand.

Cari's roommate collapsed into a chair at the table. "Well, we're still not allowed in to see Shadow. Tessa has been trying all morning, since she has the best chance as a Healer-in-training, but even she can't convince Doctor Combes." She grimaced, dropping her face into her hands. "I don't know what to do." They sat like that for a moment since Cari didn't know what to do. Lydia lifted her head and smiled at her roommate. "Are you hungry? I'm starving. Let's go to the cafeteria."

This was sadly easier said than done. The trip from the library to the cafeteria was filled with jeers, shouted insults, and liberal use of the term 'Mongrel'. It was amazing how the word that had stopped affecting her almost a year ago hurt her so badly now. She made sue to shrug it off for Lydia, but every time someone hurled the insult at her, Cari couldn't suppress a flinch. This occurred on and off throughout the rest of the day, even as the group made trips back and forth from the Hospital Building to visit Shadow. On multiple occasions, she had to convince Eric, Fletchmeister, and Chayton not to hunt down the person who said it. _After all,_ she thought gloomily, _If Shadow's not better soon, I'll probably just have to get used to it._

Just before curfew on Sunday night, Cari decided to go alone to the Hospital Building. No use dragging anyone else along for a probably pointless mission. Luckily, it was close enough to curfew that the campus was abandoned and she didn't have to deal with any abuse from other students on the trip. When she arrived and knocked on the Hospital door, it swung open readily, to her surprise.

Doctor Combes waved her inside, signaling her to hurry. "Miss Romana, if you will be quick, I will allow you a few minutes to speak with Mr. Hale. Please, come with me."

Cari followed him willingly enough, but when he pointed her to Shadow's cot, she became hesitant. The only thing that kept them moving was the recollection of her limited amount of time. "Shadow?" she asked softly as she approached his bedside.

He turned to her with a smile, and the tightness in her gut eased. "Cari! How have you been?"

"Uh, okay, I guess. More importantly, how have you been? Recovery going well?"

Shadow shrugged. "I don't exactly know what I've forgotten, so it's hard to tell when I've gotten everything back that I need. Right now, Doctor Combes thinks that I remember everything I'm going to. The only reason I'm still in here is that I keep getting migraines. Doc says I'll probably be out tomorrow."

Cari slumped down in the seat beside Shadow's bed and hugged her arms tightly. "Well, if you really remember everything, I'm surprised you're still speaking with me."

"Yeah, Doctor Combes told me that you were worried I would be mad. Romana, how on earth could you think that?"

"I don't know, maybe because I promised to keep you safe and then let you get hurt? I wouldn't blame you for being mad at me. I'm mad at myself."

"But I'm not mad. For Merlin's sake, Cari! I know you tried. Every time I had a second to look at you, I saw that you were watching me. Not your fault that they waited until you were distracted to attack." His face fell into serious lines. "Though I will fault you for one thing: Why did you promise to keep me safe? As a referee, you were supposed to be spending your time keeping all of the fouls to a minimum, not concentrating all of your effort on watching one student. It- it just seems like favoritism, looking back. Not at all befitting a referee-in-training."

Cari snorted. "Well, you're not the only one who feels that way. I'm under formal investigation for making a biased call and allowing a student to get injured."

"What?" Shadow asked, aghast. Cari explained the situation to him, revealing everything Professor Fleet had said in her office. By the time she had finished, he was livid. "Are you serious? They cannot hold you responsible for me being injured! You had nothing to do with it!"

"Technically, I did since I was the one who distracted the senior referee." The words were serious, though the tone was sarcastic.

Shadow opened his mouth to argue the point – though, to what end, Cari didn't know – but was interrupted by a distant knock from the door to Doctor Combes' office. "Miss Romana, you have only a couple of minutes before the curfew strikes. If you do not wish to get into trouble, you may want to leave shortly."

She stood immediately as he closed his door again. "Well, it sounds like I should be on my way." They exchanged a quick set of goodbyes, Cari wished Shadow a rapid recovery, and she left, hurrying across campus to avoid being caught and given a detention.

Monday had started out bad, with a campus racked by series of severe thunderstorms. However, it had rapidly become worse. In hurrying between classes, the sudden dislike of her classmates escalated from verbal attacks to physical ones. Of course, they were small offenses, more along the lines of tripping and 'accidental' elbowing than anything to cause real damage, but it was still less than pleasant. The worst part of the day was the sight of Pitt's face, shooting her a gloating smirk with every blow.

Shadow joined the group for dinner, much to the excitement of the entire school. As soon as the timing was acceptable, he was being congratulated on his complete recovery by a variety of students from every Wing and year. In the end, he politely made his excuses and left the cafeteria, making mention of a headache.

After he had left, the rest of the group disbanded, heading off in a handful of directions. Cari stayed behind, having gotten to the table a little later than the others and so was still finishing up the pile of steamed vegetables on her plate. As she chased the last green bean across her plate, a figure perched on a chair across the table from her. Cari looked up to see Iagan Kelly nonchalantly taking a cookie from a platter in front of him.

She raised an eyebrow at him, taking a cookie from the same platter. Cari stayed silent, watching Iagan until he spoke. "I hear there's a formal investigation starting up; one which will study your methods and habits as a student referee. They're going to look at your past to judge your future."

"You aren't exactly telling me anything new. Is there a point to this recap?"

"Straight to the point. Very well, I can do that. You will not be found innocent. The Tribunal's opinion is the one that counts, more than that of any other investigator, and they notoriously do not like your family. As a so-called Mongrel, you will be forced to stop your training."

Cari fought her face back into a blank expression. "Thank you for the warning." With that, she stood, pushing back from the table and striding away, but Iagan caught up with her before she could exit to the lower Physical Wing hallway.

He leaned into her personal space, gray gaze intensifying. "And yet, it doesn't have to be this way. There are ways to circumvent the system. With the right nudge from the right direction, the investigators, no matter how biased, will have no choice but to find you guilt-free."

"And what do you get from helping me?"

Iagan's eyes widened guilelessly as he pressed fingertips to his chest. "Me? Only the pleasure of helping a friend in need."

Cari folded her arms. "Don't try to play innocent. I've watched you manipulate people for the past year, but it isn't going to work on me."

"Of course it isn't," Iagan said easily, laughing at her shocked expression. "I've been watching you too, Licaria. You do some manipulation of your own. However, you can't trick me and I can't fool you. We're very similar, after all."

He walked as though he would circle her, but Cari turned to keep him in sight. By his expressive smile, Iagan knew exactly why she did it: she didn't trust him. "Haven't you ever wondered about our eyes?" he asked abruptly.

"Our eyes?" Cari could only repeat stupidly.

He tapped the outer edge of his eye with a long forefinger. "Of course. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and ours are gray, the color of indecision. Of moral uncertainty. Our eyes show the dichotomy of our souls."

"Dichotomy..? Either explain what you're talking about, or stop talking, Kelly," Cari said bluntly, more than ready to end the conversation.

Iagan grinned broadly at her. "The dichotomy, the battle between two ideas or states of mind. One side of us strives to be fair and just, doing the right thing. The other side knows how much easier it is to just… help people to see our side of a situation. The black and the white, the right and the wrong, it all fights right here in our eyes. We just have to figure out which side is going to win, don't we?"

Cari now knew she was in way over her head. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"If you'll agree, I would be happy to help you with your Quidditch problem. If you don't, well… I don't see that they'll find you innocent, but it is entirely your choice. However, I need the time to put things in motion, so I need your answer as soon as possible."

"I guess that- I mean, I'll think about it. Just- don't kill anyone in the meantime, okay?"

Iagan gave her an enigmatic smile, but said nothing, merely disappearing in a direction that did not lead to either of their Wings. Cari closed her eyes for one moment, saying a quick prayer that she had not just unleashed a terror into the halls of Echowick.

* * *

Author's Note \- For this chapter, I had quite an internal struggle. I wrote this in May, before we knew anything about MACUSA or the differences in governments between countries of the wizarding world. I wrote in that the governing authority for North America would be the North American Wizarding Tribunal. It was a struggle, as I like to keep things consistent and up to date, but I decided to keep the NAWT rather than change everything to MACUSA. If anyone has extreme feelings either way, let me know. (This is also why the Echowick students refer to non-magical persons as Muggles rather than No-Majs.)

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and had a very Happy New Year! Unfortunately, though my New Year's Resolution is to write every day, chapters are still not being written quickly enough for me to post twice a week, at least for the time being. I'll see you next Monday, though. Have a great week!


	33. Banned

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ As always, I hold no claim to _Harry Potter_ or any related anything. That would be J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I make no money from the writing or publishing of this fanfiction and own only the original characters and elements.

* * *

Banned

The rest of the school week flew by as Cari debated over and over about whether to accept Iagan's help. Whatever the boy planned to do would be twisted and underhanded, but if those were the things the Tribunal inspectors were going to do, why should she have to be the more professional one? And yet… Manipulation was apparently a family weakness of hers, and Cari didn't want to fall prey to it any sooner than was absolutely necessary. All of this seemed a little too premediated for her peace of mind. It couldn't even be classified as self-defense with this much forethought.

Thankfully, with Shadow's return to classes, the bullying dialed back down a few notches. Now, Cari mostly experienced dirty looks, a few hissed remarks, and the unending stream of bullying from Ravinger and Pitt's friends. But she could deal with it after the strong reminder of the kind of harassment she had been immune to lately. The bullying that happened when Shadow was still in the Hospital Building was a grim reminder of how much better things had become - as well as how precarious her current position still was.

Besides all of this, the only thing that truly bothered her was how classes had gone on Friday. As someone undergoing a formal investigation, Cari wasn't allowed to do anything in the way of the upkeep or repairs to the Echowick brooms. This wouldn't have been too much of an annoyance, except for the strain it placed on Professor Gregory, who now had to do all of the broom work by himself. Friday had been filled with mutters of having to split the work into two weeks. The first Friday, he had managed to care for the brooms that had been used by the Physical Wing with the help of Asher, who was nearly finished working on his final project.

That was the other bad thing about Cari's Broomsmith classes: she couldn't quite get a read on the Phillips brothers' feelings towards her. At some points during the day, it seemed like everything was going how it always did, and the sense of normalcy was comforting. Other times, it felt as though Asher and Ransom were angry with her. Cari couldn't help but wonder if they blamed her for the way the match had turned out. _Not that I could do anything about it either way,_ she reminded herself. _The only thing I can do is apologize, and even then, I would be apologizing for an accident. I won't lie and say that anything was done on purpose. It wasn't._ Before long, she gave up completely on trying to figure them out. If they had a problem, they would simply have to speak to her about it themselves.

When Friday's classes finally let out, Cari made it back to her room before the first few tears escaped. Lydia, working on homework in the room, saw this. Concerned, she asked, "Cari? What happened? What's wrong?"

With a watery smile, Cari shook her head. "Nothing, really. I'm just already sick of people being suspicious of me. I screwed up; I get that. I just don't like having people look at me like I tried to kill one of my best friends over a game of Quidditch."

"Hang on," Kimber said from the doorway, where she had been leaning unseen. "Did Asher and Ransom say something to you?"

"No. They didn't say anything to me, anything at all. I don't know if they're upset or just feeling awkward about the whole thing, but it's getting to me. Has Ransom said anything about either of them being mad at me?" Cari hated to put such pressure on Kimber, but for some reason, the brothers' opinions were important to her. She had to know where she stood with them.

Kimber was no help. "I don't know; I'm sorry. He hasn't said anything specifically, but we don't really talk about that kind of stuff when we hang out."

Lydia furrowed her brows. "Really? But that's a fairly major thing happening in both of your lives. How are you not talking about it? Now that I think about it, he's a year older than us. What _do_ you guys talk about?" Kimber reddened slightly, the color lining her angular cheekbones. Lydia smiled knowingly. "Ah. Well, I guess that explains it. Strictly speaking, I don't think that counts as talking."

Groaning, Kimber covered her face while Cari and Lydia laughed.

As had been happened all too often in the past month, Cari's good mood didn't last very long. Tuesday morning, she was pulled out of Charms to speak with the investigators from the NAWT in Fleet's office. There was a male and female, neither of whom bothered to introduce themselves. Indifferently, they instructed her to explain what had happened. One she had finished, they told her that she could back to class.

"There isn't anything else for you to ask me? No follow-up questions?"

"I believe we have all we need, Miss Romana," the female agent said, not looking up from scribbling on her clipboard.

The male agent gave a mirthless, lopsided smile. "Besides, the investigation itself will carry more weight than anything we can ask you here."

Making brief eye contact with Professor Fleet, Cari turned to leave the office, but was stopped by the female agent. "If you hadn't already suspected, Miss Romana, you are forbidden from refereeing the upcoming Quidditch match between the Academics and Arts Wings. You may attend the game as a spectator if you so choose, but it is strongly discouraged. After all, we wouldn't want any additional data to prolong this investigation."

She turned back to her partner and they began speaking in low tones. Silently, Professor Fleet signaled for Cari to leave the office and return to class.

By that afternoon, word seemed to have spread about Cari's banning from the match. It was amazing how one could go from decently well-liked to totally despised in the span of a week. People gloated nastily, commenting on her fall from a position of authority. "Must suck to go from being so important to being a worthless Mongel." "Not that she was really anything more." "But she certainly did her best to trick people into thinking she was." Yes, it definitely wasn't Cari's best day at Echowick.

To top things off, Iagan pulled her off to the side of the cafeteria before she could make her escape. "Licaria, I don't have very much more time before I need to put my plans in motion. Have you made your choice?"

Cari's mind whirred, flashing through the main points of all of her mental debates over the past few days. _It's dishonest. But I'll be found guilty otherwise. But it's wrong to cheat the system. The same system which is working against me right now. But it's wrong. But I don't want to leave Echowick and all of my friends after being disgraced. But-_

She sighed, nodding. "I think so. Thank you very much for your offer to help me, but I must decline."

Iagan's face transformed from a mocking mask into an expression of total surprise. "Are you serious?" She nodded and his tone grew disgusted, "You are going to waste this opportunity, Romana, and out of what? Some sense of justice? Of fairness? Morality? No. Mark my words: this is your one and only chance of finding a way out of this situation."

Cari lifted her chin, offering him the sickening smile of someone with a clear conscience. "Not necessarily. I firmly believe that I did nothing wrong and the investigators will find out the truth to judge for themselves." She met his gaze and added seriously, "Truly, thank you for being willing to help me. I know you would have asked for something in return, but thank you regardless. However, I can't justify sacrificing my principles on the off chance that the investigators think I was in the wrong. You have a great night."

She pulled away, retreating to the Physical Wing. For the first time in a while, she slept soundly through the night, although she did take a moment to check the 'morally uncertain' color of her eyes. They hadn't changed, but she hadn't really expected them to. Not really, anyway.

* * *

After a fairly long week, Cari found herself in Building 7 once more. The class was still awkward, maybe even more so than before since everyone had now heard about Cari's ban from the Quidditch game. Or maybe it was the male investigator popping into and out of the room periodically. Who could say?

The reason for the investigator's presence was clear: Professor Gregory, Asher, and Ransom were all immersed in repairing and cleaning the brooms that had been used by the Politics Wing for the next day's match. The man was there to be sure that Cari didn't have the chance to tamper with any of the brooms. He took full advantage of the visits, moving around the building to watch Cari from all angles, but apparently could find no fault with her as she was completely across the room at all times, seated at the desk with an open book in front of her. He left soon after that, but he would likely return soon. Very little time passed between visits.

After a full morning of studying, Cari left the outbuilding to go eat lunch in the cafeteria. It was the first time all year that she had been in the cafeteria on a day before a match and her displacement rankled. When she expressed her frustration to the table in general, Toby shook his head, "I know it's not fun, Cari, but you need to cooperate with them. The less you push back, the less reason they'll have to make the investigation last even longer."

"Is it really the investigator that you object to?" Shadow asked, gesturing with a spoon. "Or is it the fact that you don't get to help with the brooms?"

"Here," Eric said, handing Shadow a napkin. "Clean up your mess. You just got applesauce everywhere." To Cari, he said, "I have to agree with Toby. Just suck it up, show them that sparkly innocence, and let the whole thing fade away."

Before things could get uncomfortable – after all, everyone knew there was a chance that Cari wouldn't be found innocent at all – lunch was over and Cari reluctantly went back to Building 7. There, everything was exactly the same as it had been before. Cari sat safely at the desk in the corner of the room and studied Flight Theory, though even her favorite subject wasn't enough to distract her. Eventually, she found herself doodling on a scrap of paper with occasional breaks to check the time. _In half an hour I'll be free… to sit here for another hour before I can leave._ She groaned softly and slumped further down in her chair.

The male investigator left again, closing the door gently behind him. After a few minutes passed, Professor Gregory exclaimed loudly, "Oh, these flies! Sometimes I think they're breeding in here!" He threw the door open and stepped outside, waving his arms around dramatically. Watching curiously, Cari noticed that he was turning in a slow circle. Abruptly, he turned around and came back inside, seizing a broom from the worktable and throwing it onto the desk in front of Cari. She looked up at him questioningly. He flipped the broom upside down and pointed at a spot on the handle. "What is this?"

Cari leaned in, studying the handle. A crude rune had been scratched into the varnish, but she didn't recognize the character. She looked up. "A rune, sir." Cari's eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at. "I didn't put it there, if that's what you're asking."

Professor Gregory was too mannerly to roll his eyes at her, but the exasperation was plain on his face. "Really, Miss Romana. I made sure that the investigator is gone. I just need to know what it is so that it can be removed before it is used against your case." He looked over his shoulder nervously. "Please hurry. I don't know when he'll return."

"Professor, I was being completely honest. I didn't place that rune. I actually don't even know which one that is."

"Miss Romana, please do not bother-"

"Professor! I only use one broom, remember? And that one isn't it. Why would I put a rune on a broom I wasn't going to be using? How would I measure the effects? It would be a waste of time. Even if you think I'm a liar, you at least recognize that I do things that make sense."

"But- If you didn't carve these, who did?"

"Hang on. I think I have a way to figure it out." Cari pushed the broom off of her textbook and began flipping back through chapters. _I suppose there is another benefit from studying so much lately._ In a few short seconds, she had found what she was looking for: the pages containing a compilation of basic runes and what they looked like.

By now, Asher and Ransom had wandered over to the desk as well. It was actually Asher who found the match for the rune in question, pointing to the page. "Is this the one?"

"Yes, I believe so," Professor Gregory responded. "Which one is it, Miss Romana?"

Cari, the only one not reading upside-down, quickly scanned the description for the rune they were indicating. "It's the rune for Undetectable." They sat in the silence, busy processing the new information.

"Asher, Ransom, please go check the rest of the brooms. Pull out any that have been carved with runes, but keep any with this symbol completely separate. Miss Romana, we need to get your story planned out."

"Story?"

"Yes, of course. If the investigator is not here for the 'discovery' of the rune, foul play will be suspected. I propose you simply sit there as he watches, as you have been all day, and we will find the rune. Do not offer information, do not turn to the rune page in your book, and do not mention that you have done prior research into any of this."

"Wait. If you're supposedly just finding the rune when the investigator is here, why bother having Asher and Ransom search for another rune?"

The professor smiled enigmatically. "Merely a hypothesis I am testing. If it pans out, I will explain." Shortly after, Ransom brought back another broom, pointing out a spot where the same character had been etched. Professor Gregory folded his hands on the desk and smiled softly to himself.

"Well? Hypothesis, explanation?" Cari's impatience was probably rude, but she was beyond the point of caring.

"Ah, yes. I believe that all of this is tied together. Extensive tests will have to be run, of course, but I believe the two brooms inscribed with runes were the same ones used by Ravinger Kaine and Pittrellean Geikas. That is why no one noticed their actions. Headmistress Fleet and I interviewed many staff members and students who watched the game, yet nearly zero recalled the behaviors of the Beaters, even after describing the actions of the other players in great detail."

"Pssst!" Asher hissed, peeking out the window. "He's coming back! Go, go, go!"

In a scramble of motion, Cari flung herself back into her seat and flipped the pages to a chapter further on in the book. Meanwhile, Asher, Ransom, and Professor Gregory sprinted back to the work table and began jumbling the brooms back together, though they carefully place the two rune-bearing brooms in an easily-remembered spot.

The inspector let himself in without knocking. Cari kept deliberately reading her book while the others went through more of the brooms. He circled the room once before walking up to her. "What are you studying so diligently, Miss Romana?" The formal address sounded less than pleasant, but Cari kept the distaste from her face as she looked up.

"I'm reading about different kickoff techniques and their impact on the velocity gained in a specific time span; in this case, five seconds." He seemed to have nothing to add, so she went back to the book, turning a page after a long moment.

Professor Gregory's murmur was quiet in itself, but in the silent room, everyone could clearly hear him say, "Well, that is odd. That is very odd indeed."

Latching onto his words, the investigator turned sharply. "What is it, Professor?"

The Broomsmith teacher looked distinctly troubled. "There's a mark on this broom handle. This is the second one we've found and both marks are identical."

Intrigued, the investigator approached to study the marks, concluding with surprise, "These are runes!"

"Runes?" Professor Gregory leaned in. "Now that you mention it, that's quite possible. We don't cover runes very thoroughly in this class, but I have heard of them being applied in this way. Miss Romana, would you turn to the part of your book which deals with runes?"

Giving her best nonplussed face, Cari sat motionless before looking down in faux shame. "I- I'm sorry, Professor. Which section of the book would that be?"

He walked over as he chided her, though he gave a small wink to ruin the effect. "Miss Romana! You never focus on anything except kickoff speeds and broomtail materials, do you?" He took the book from her and flipped expertly through the pages, leafing around until he found the one from earlier. "Ah, here we are! Do you think this is the one?"

The investigator looked at the spot Professor Gregory pointed to and shook his head. "No, that's not right. It's missing lines here and here, and this line is curved, not straight. I think it's probably… This one: Undetectable!" The triumphant look faded from his face. "Undetectable. You said there were two brooms marked this way?" Professor Gregory nodded. "And these are the brooms used by one specific team. There's only one position that works in pairs this way: Beaters." The man swung around to study Cari, who was looking at the broom held by Professor Gregory. "I need to speak to my partner and the Headmistress about this newest development. Remain here please."

He stepped outside slightly, using a radio to request the presence of his partner and Professor Fleet. Within minutes, they had arrived and he summed up the situation for them. The female agent, once she had recovered, said firmly, "The first thing we need to do is check Miss Romana's broom for runes as well."

These words sparked what turned out to be quite an interesting process. The investigators wouldn't allow the marked brooms to be left in Building 7 for fear of someone messing with them, but they also didn't trust anyone to be left alone with them. Eventually, all of the brooms were brought up to the broom shed along with both investigators, Professors Fleet and Gregory, Asher, Ransom, and Cari. On the way, the female was asking Professor Gregory about Cari's flight habits and whether she truly only rode one broom. He was still explaining the situation when they arrived at the Quidditch Pitch.

To Cari's surprise, Pitt and Ravinger were standing on the Pitch already, though they did look confused about why they were there. Professor Fleet, who looked as though she was trying to solve a difficult math problem in her head, stepped forward, but was cut off by the male agent. "Boys, thank you for meeting us up here. Did you know that the North American Wizarding Tribunal is constantly working on the development of new spells?"

Both boys shook their heads, now looking more confused than ever. The female investigator nodded. "Yes, we are. Now, with the rate of crimes committed on brooms being higher than usual in the past few years, there is a spell still being perfected by our researchers, but we have gotten special permission to test the rough draft, as it were, here. This spell, when cast on each of you, will summon the broom you most recently flew on. It's fairly interesting, but we will not go into details here."

She motioned Cari over to stand by the brooms before brandishing her wand. "Wait!" Pitt burst out. "My mother isn't likely to approve of an untested spell being performed on me. I refuse to let you do this without her being present."

The woman lowered her wand only slightly, giving Pitt a stern look. "Young man, I said 'rough draft', not 'untested'. Please rest assured that this spell has undergone rigorous testing."

"But my mother-"

"Mr. Geikas, you seem to be of the mistaken opinion that I care who your mother is and what she thinks of our practices. I do not. As part of a formal investigation, you may be put under any spell that we deem necessary as long as it is not lethal. This one, I promise you, is not lethal. Now be still or things will have to become dramatic."

Pitt stood quietly while Cari and Professor Gregory tried to hold back smiles. Asher and Ransom were grinning openly. The female investigator once again lifted her wand, spoke a bunch of Latin-sounding words that Cari was unfamiliar with, and ended the whole thing with a sharp gesture to the broom shed. The doors of the small building burst open, propelled by the force of three brooms zooming from inside. They reached the three students, who caught the handles just before the brooms made impact.

Both inspectors approached Cari first, flipping her broom around. "Just as I suspected!" the female exclaimed. "Her broom bears a rune as well."

"Not the same one," the man pointed out. "And it doesn't look as much like it was carved with a paperclip."

"It doesn't matter! In carving a rune into a broom without school knowledge, much less permission, she is in just as much trouble as the other two."

Gently, Professor Fleet pulled the broom from the two investigators, rotating the handle to study the mark for herself. "If you look closely, you can see that the mark on this broom was made long ago. The indentations are worn down by time and after being handled by so many students. This mark, at the depth it is, should be much sharper if it was carved recently. I believe that this mark long predates Miss Romana's use of the broom, or her time at Echowick as a whole."

The investigators, after studying it themselves, agreed that it was an old rune, and as such, may have lost its potency long ago. "Now," Professor Fleet said, an official tone in her voice, "We have only to decide what will be done with these two young men. After all, Doctor Combes told me that the injury on Shadow Hale's head was consistent with the mark left by a Beater's bat."

The expressions of the investigators hardened, but the woman shook her head. "Unfortunately, we are unable to prove at this point that the boys were the ones who carved the runes."

Fleet smiled unpleasantly. "While you are unfamiliar with the woman, I do know Mrs. Geikas, and I also know how she will react when she finds out that her son was involved in such an incident. It will not take me long to get in contact with her…"

"Wait!" Pitt cried. "Don't call her! It was Ravinger! He put the marks on our brooms and said we had to take out the Physical Team's star new Chaser if we wanted to win the match."

The male inspector nodded once, sharply. "Very well. Both of your records will show that you staged an attack of this kind. Miss Romana, you are cleared of all charges. Mr. Kaine, Mr. Geikas, both of you are banned from Quidditch for the rest of the year. Further games are to be allowed at the discretion of the Echowick Board of Directors."

"You can't do that!" Even when she was – for once – out of the line of fire, Cari still wanted to take a step back at the harsh tone of Ravinger's voice and the blaze of anger in his eyes. "I'm the Quidditch Team Captain for the Politics Wing and I'm a seventh-year. This is my last game!"

"And I couldn't care less. Don't cheat." The male investigator was less than sympathetic. "You should count yourself very lucky that the consequences are not worse."

When Professor Gregory, Asher, Ransom, and Cari left the Pitch with the yet-to-be-cleaned brooms, he was still going back and forth between arguing with the inspectors and shooting murderous glares at Pitt.

"Well, Miss Romana," Professor Gregory said warmly. "I'm glad to hear that you're found innocent. Any chance you'd want to stay a little longer and help us get these brooms ready for the game tomorrow?"

"I would love to," Cari replied, shocked by how much she meant it.

"One thing I would like to know," Asher said thoughtfully, "Is who carved a rune on your broom and what it means."

Cari shrugged. "I'm not sure, but Professor Fleet was right; it seems pretty old. After all the times I've ridden it, I should have felt the indentations, but I never did. The wood around it is so smoothed over that you would have to be looking for it."

Approximately three brooms later, Professor Gregory held up Cari's Flight Theory textbook triumphantly. "Got it! The rune on your broom is the character for 'clarity'. That's why you could see the actions of the Politics Team Beaters when no one else could." He grew serious. "We might want to keep that fact to ourselves. It appears that, rather than growing weaker as the investigators believe, the rune is still strong enough to counteract the effects of new ones."

"Yeah, fantastic," Ransom grunted, working hard to peel off a patch of dried-on mud. "Flight Theory is great, but do you think you have a minute to help us instead? There are a lot of brooms left and I'm not spending the night here."

* * *

Author's Note \- Sorry this is posted so late! I wish I could say that life is crazy, but in reality, my only excuse is that I truly believed it was Tuesday all day. Apologies! Hope you enjoyed it, drop a review if you so choose, and I'll see you next Monday!


	34. Finals

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I still own no rights to _Harry Potter_ or anything related to the series, characters, or situations. I own only the original characters and elements of this story, from which I make no profit of any kind. Thank you.

* * *

Finals

The end of the school year always seemed to zoom by for Cari. The Academics vs. Arts Quidditch match had gone smoothly, no unexpected incidents. Cari even made a few – thankfully uncontested – calls. One week later, the final match of the season, Politics vs. Arts, took place. When Cari arrived at the broom shed, she was surprised to find Mr. Kreer waiting for her.

"Mr. Kreer! What are you doing here?" Cari asked, unable to keep the obvious question inside. Mr. Kreer liked playing Quidditch, but was vocally of the opinion that watching it was a waste of time.

He smiled under his lightening beard and said mysteriously, "Call it a hunch." He followed her inside the small, stone building, stopping her from picking up her broom. "If you'll give me just one moment, Miss Romana?"

Obligingly, Cari stood back, allowing the square, towering man room to get past her. Shockingly nimble in his movements, Mr. Kreer knelt, studying the broom from inches away. He muttered a few words that made the tip of his wand glow as though he had cast a _lumos_ , but this light was a harsh, dazzling gold. The Survival Professor made several passes over the broom with the glowing wand, getting progressively closer to its surface each time. When he finally touched the wand to the broomstick, using only the slightest bit of pressure, there was a loud _pop_ and the light turned a sickly gray. He nodded once and stood.

"What's going on, sir?"

"Your broomstick is jinxed." She furrowed her brows at him. "Professor Fleet and I had a feeling that something like this could happen, especially after the NAWT banned Kaine and Geikas from the last Quidditch game. It's a severe jinx. Not quite a curse, but it could still do something nasty if you were to have touched it. I can get rid of it, but there's no spell in existence that would let us trace who placed it or what it would have done."

Cari nodded. "Thank you for checking it for me. I never would have thought to look that closely."

"It wouldn't have mattered. Jinxes and curses placed on objects can be seen, but only with much difficulty and by someone who was carefully trained." Mr. Kreer had gone back to looking at the broom, experimentally flinging a spell or two at it as he spoke.

"You saw it," she couldn't help but point out.

He smiled absently, "That's completely different. I worked as a curse-breaker for several years when I was younger. Now, hush. This takes concentration if I'm going to do it right the first time." Cari opened her mouth and he raised an eyebrow at her. "You want me to do it right the first time."

She stood silently in the doorway of the broom shed until he had finished, the golden glow of his wand gradually growing brighter and brighter until Cari could hardly stand to keep her eyes open. When everything was peaceful and dark once more, Mr. Kreer stood, nodded to her, and moved as though to leave the building.

"Wait, Mr. Kreer! What do I say if anyone says anything to me about all of this?"

"Well, if they mention it to you first, it's probably a good reason to think that they placed it. You should probably avoid those people, then. And you can say anything you want, but if you want to confuse them, just ask what they're talking about. They'll either think they cast their jinx wrong or that you're the toughest kid who's ever come to Echowick. Now, you had better head out to the Pitch. Professor Gregory's probably been out there for half an hour now."

Thanking him once more, Cari went out. The game wasn't bad, though it was incredibly short. Cari didn't like Ravinger or Pitt, but she had to admit that the former was an excellent Captain and the pair were great Beaters. Obviously suffering from the lack of leadership, the Politics Team struggled to work together. Both of the Beaters were replacements, which also was less than ideal. One missing Beater would have been bad, but still salvageable. Two was beyond hope. They couldn't function as a team and hit the Bludgers back at their own teammates almost as often as they did the other team. The team was a mess, but it was a thankfully short game, with the Arts Seeker and Captain, Amethyst Fletcher, catching the Snitch relatively early.

By the same Saturday night, all of the scores had been calculated and the winner of the Echowick Trophy for Quidditch was announced. When Professor Fleet announced the Physical Team as the winners, Cari felt like she outcheered everyone else in the cafeteria. Traditionally, all of the members of a Quidditch team would walk to the front of the room to accept the trophy, which was always given to the youngest player.

However, when the Headmistress held the trophy out to Shadow, he shook his head and stepped aside. This started a movement and each of the players followed his example, leaving Niccolo Rossi to collect the trophy. His eyes were shining and he was smiling more brightly than Cari had ever seen before. _It's been a rough year, but I think this moment might be worth it_.

The next week kicked off the last week of April and finals were approaching at a frightening speed. The pressure started to pick up, especially for the second-years. More than once, Cari could hear her classmates complaining, "I cannot wait until next year! Can you imagine? We'll have two fewer finals to take. It'll feel like a vacation!" Cari couldn't help but agree with this. Trying to study for eight finals felt nearly as easy as she imagined swimming in bricks would be.

The horribly rushed, unprepared feeling didn't let up over the coming weeks. Instead, it increased to the point that, nearly daily, a student would run from the library crying, or vomit in the hallway. It would have been kind of funny if Cari didn't feel like she was going to do the same thing at any given moment.

Finally, she sat at her table in the library one morning, surrounded by books, when her stress levels began to rise. The pressure in her chest increased and Cari began to hyperventilate. As she took deep breaths, trying to slow her heart rate, a hand tapped her arm. Looking up, she saw Shadow's bright blue eyes filled with a joyous, secret laughter. He sat next to her, leaning close to whisper so he wouldn't disrupt the working students. "Hey, you look a little stressed out. Come with me." Cari looked questioningly at him, but he shook his head, pressing a finger to his lips as he beckoned her to follow behind him.

He led her to one of the outbuildings, checking to make sure that no one else saw what they were doing. When Cari stepped inside, she was completely… confused. There were just a bunch of their friends standing around inside a plain, white-painted room about the same size as her Broomsmith classroom. "Shadow, seriously? I have so much studying to be doing-"

"No, you don't. That's all we've been doing all year! Studying, working, learning, repeating. I decided that we all could use a break. So, I've spent the morning doing this."

"Uh, doing what?" Fletchmeister asked, censure in his voice. "Because I've been standing here for almost an hour and it still looks like an empty room to me." Cari was taken aback by the harsh tone in Fletchmeister's voice. _The stress must be getting to him, too._

Shadow was undaunted, however, beaming brilliantly. "I'm so glad you asked, Fletch! In my Architecture classes-" a loud series of groans threatened to cover his next words, but he continued on anyway. "-the teachers have come up with a way to let us explore the great buildings of the world. See? _Agito nec Duco!_ "

Everyone in the room gasped as images flickered up on each of the four walls, showing the inside of some building or another. Cari wasn't very interested in the building itself, but when the ceiling showed a towering staircase leading up for as far as she could see, the spell on the building fascinated her. After a moment, the floor even began to change, not only flickering to look like an old, uneven wooden floor, but moving to feel like one as well.

Shadow repeated the spell, this time causing the room to look like the Echowick cafeteria. It was an exact match, down to the very last detail. "Do you guys get the idea?" Shadow asked. "I know everyone has studying to do, so we'll make this quick. Everyone gets to choose where to take us, we'll stay there for five minutes, and switch to the next place. Who's first?"

Lydia volunteered, whispering in Shadow's ear before he cast them onto an island. Five blissful, sun and sand-filled minutes later, Toby transported them to one of the oldest libraries in the world for five minutes of peace and cool shade. Lionel took them to a nightclub, Kimber to a rainforest, Tessa to a movie theater, Eric to the top of a cliff, Chayton to a rock concert. Each place was a blast as they laughed, danced, sang, and explored.

During Willa's requested trip to a temple in India, Shadow pulled Cari off to the side. "Have you thought about where you want to go?"

"I thought about it, but… This is the only place I really want to be."

"Wow. That was kind of cheesy, don't you think?"

Cari couldn't fight back a smile. "Yeah, it was. Sorry. But I can't really think of any place I want to go and it's been a good day of destressing. I seriously think I'm good. Did you pick a place?"

He shook his head. "I just wanted to do something that would make all of us happy. Sounds like we have that. I can't think of a place that would make me happier." He leaned closer. "By the way, it doesn't sound cheesy when I say it."

She tipped her head to accede his point and said demurely, "Of course not. Thanks for proving your superiority, Mr. Shadow McAwesome."

He smiled, but there was no more time for conversation. Willa's time was up and Jael was determined to take them to some kind of a building filled with trampolines.

When the stress of finals had passed, the second-year students still had more tests to complete. Before they could drop the classes they wanted to for their third year, students had to take general exams for those classes to prove they at least had a certain level of mastery. With even more studying, Cari passed both of her chosen exams, though she was starting to feel like she had memorized the textbooks. It wasn't a good feeling.

Fortunately, classes were almost over. The second-years had to finish out the week of classes while the first-years took their finals, and then they were free. In her last Charms class, Professor Garbin was all too eager to sign Cari's Class Drop permission slip. He snatched the paper from her hand, scrawled his name across the bottom, and thrust it back at her. "If you never darken the door of my classroom again, Miss Romana, it would be fine with me."

"No joke. Glad it's over." Cari could only attribute her cavalierly blunt attitude to the end of the school year and the things the professor had put her through over the past year. Remembering those disagreements, she half-expected the professor to berate her for being flip, but he nodded fervently.

As soon as she gathered her books, he ushered her to the doorway and slammed the door shut behind her. Shadow, accompanying her on the chance that Garbin would try to get Cari in trouble, stared back at the entrance disapprovingly. "Well, that was rude. Where does he get off, pretending that you were the one to cause all of your problems?"

Cari shrugged. "Who gives a-" she cut off, clearing her throat as several other teachers passed them. "What I mean is: I don't care. I'm done with Charms, I've learned enough to function in the wizarding world, and I don't have to sit through any more classes taught by someone who hates me." This didn't sound quite true, and Cari gave a quick shake of her head as she corrected, "Well, by that particular someone who hates me. I'm sure there will be others."

"That's the spirit!" Shadow cheered, only slightly sarcastically. "Now, come on. Let's get to Fleet's class. Don't want to be late on the last day!"

The rest of the day was slow, leisurely, filled with a handful of students in each class who needed their slips signed. For the most part, the professors were understanding, though some – like Professor Perez – were prone to make jokes about being offended.

That night was the second-years' Astronomy class, Cari's second choice of class to drop. It wasn't that she minded the subject. In fact, the hours spent peacefully watching the night sky and listening to the soft hum of classical music were among the best times Cari had experienced at Echowick. More than once, she had debated whether dropping the easy subject was in her best interests, but had always come back to the same conclusions. For as easy as Astronomy was, Cari could not justify the time it took to learn something that would be pointless to her future career.

At the beginning of the last class of the year, there was a small period of time before the lesson started. Cari, unsure of how to bring up the topic without coming off as offensive, sidled up to Professor Ford awkwardly. She was silent, but Ford thankfully possessed greater social skills than the second-year.

"Good evening, Miss Romana. I hear that you have become quite the accomplished student this year." Cari looked at her questioningly and Professor Ford smiled. "A broomsmith-in-training and a student broom caretaker to boot. Have you ever flown beneath the stars on a clear night?" Cari shook her head mutely and Ford's odd golden eyes took on a faraway glow, reminding Cari of the jinx-searching light emitted from Mr. Kreer's wand in the broom shed. "You might try it some time. It is a wonder not to be missed."

"Thank you for the advice, Professor. I will definitely have to give that a try." Cari found herself unable to ask the woman to sign the slip of paper, especially when she was acting so strange, but the professor once again took charge of their short conversation.

"I believe you have a permission note for me?"

Cari passed it over gratefully, but couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"

Smiling a secret half-smile, Professor Ford said, "My dear, after one teaches for as long as I have, one develops a keen sense of which students will drop the class. I knew you would be one to do so as soon as your first class ended." She signed the note with a flourish and handed it back to Cari. "Regardless, I have thoroughly enjoyed your presence in my classroom and wish you nothing but success in your studies and profession. Take care, Licaria Romana."

For someone who didn't think much of Astronomy, Cari certainly had a difficult time leaving the class on the final night.

On the next day, their first day of freedom, Cari was dragged from her room by a laughing Lydia and Tessa, who took her straight to the grounds in front of the outbuildings. "Okay, what is going on?"

"Your birthday party, of course!" Cari groaned playfully while they just laughed.

A small table was set up between two of the buildings. Lydia sighed, seeming suddenly irritated. Cari shot her a questioning look and she shook her head. "I wanted to have this on the Quidditch pitch, but it's closed off right now."

"Closed off? Why?" It was the first Cari had heard of this, unusual with all of her Quidditch connections.

Eric crossed his arms grumpily. "They're trying to keep the grass as nice as possible for graduation. I don't know why; the pitch is always completely destroyed after the ceremony. It's so stupid."

"Wow, Eric. How do you really feel?" Cari wanted to tell Willa that needling the boy probably wasn't a bright idea, but Chayton just laughed, slinging an arm around the taller boy's shoulders.

"Don't mind him. Eric's just in a bad mood because he got caught trying to sneak up there and was threatened with a detention."

Shaking off Chayton's arm, Eric snorted. "I only got caught because they warded the path up there. Plus, it wasn't my idea to go check. Lydia asked me to. This is what I get for being such a helpful and generous friend…"

The group turned to Lydia expectantly, but she just stared blankly back at them. After a moment, she smiled and shook her head. "Oh, right. Thank you, Eric, oh wonderful and brave friend of mine who is also strong and cheerful and willing to go the extra mile to help anyone who needs it and-"

"Okay, that's enough." Eric's voice was gruff, but he was obviously fighting a smile.

"Are you sure?" Lydia asked. "Because I can make up some more stuff."

"See, this is the bad thing about surprise parties," Cari interrupted. Lydia turned to her, obviously ready to defend the honor of surprise parties, but Cari went on before she had the chance. "There's a lesser-known secondary entrance to the Quidditch pitch, but you couldn't ask me about it. What a shame."

"What?!" Lydia cried. "Where is it? Don't look at all of this while you explain it. And you better show us where it is! My party would be perfect if it could be set up on the pitch!"

Faced with Lydia's frantic excitement, Cari gave in readily and told the group about the path behind Building 7. Lydia quickly assigned everyone an object or party favor to transport up to the pitch, made Cari promise not to look, and off they went.

Much as she hated to admit her roommate was right, Cari completely understood Lydia's insistence on the party being on the Quidditch pitch, as the party was Quidditch-themed. No, that wasn't exactly it. The party was more broom-themed than anything about the sport in particular. All kinds of trivia was read out with prizes as incentives as everyone stood around drinking cups of 'broom polish', which was a disconcerting black color but tasted like a light fruit juice with a hint of vanilla. Of course, Cari beat everyone in the trivia, but there were still some entertaining moments.

Before anyone had a chance to get bored, Cari grinned wickedly and asked, "You guys want to see something cool?" The answer was obviously 'yes', and in moments, Cari had disabled the wards and opened the broom shed, pulling out a broom. "Well, you know how you just say U-P if you want the broom to rise? Professor Gregory and I figured this out when we were goofing around before a match. Up!" The broom rose obediently, but Cari snatched her hand away at the last second. The broom continued to fly upward nearly a foot before falling gently back down onto the thick grass.

She turned to the group, but they didn't seem as entertained as she had been. "You see? That wasn't the best one I've ever done, but the more forcefully you say the word, the higher up the broom will go before it gives up and falls down. I'm still trying to beat the professor. He got a lift that must have been more than six feet!"

The mere hint of a challenge was enough to entice the group, who each wanted to see how far they could get the broom to rise. In the end, only Toby and Jael were left competing. Both had succeeded in making the broom rise nearly five feet in the air, but neither could make it go further. When the competition devolved into trash talk, Shadow cut the struggle short, grabbing the broom and returning it to the broom shed amid everyone's complaints.

"Shh! Someone's coming. Everyone go back down the trail to Building 7!" In the ensuing chaos of movement and Lydia reminding everyone to take stuff back with them, Shadow caught Cari's upper arm. "Romana, can you reset the wards on the broom shed? I don't know if they still have those security cameras, but I don't want to take the chance."

"I can put them back up, but it's going to take a minute."

"You get started on that while I go stand watch." Cari hesitated and Shadow rolled his eyes at her. "I'm not going to leave you, I promise. Come on, Romana, have a little faith!"

Cari took a deep breath and began rebuilding the wards, taking care to tuck in the ends of her patch job so that no one would recognize that the protections had been removed once. Just as she finished, Shadow sprinted up, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her just inside the treeline before a couple of figures burst onto the pitch. Taking care to avoid any dead leaves, they made their way back down to meet the others, where they laughed away the stress and went to hang out in one of the student lounges. Cari couldn't remember a better birthday.

The next day passed rapidly, mostly owing to the fact that someone had flooded the Potions classrooms. Covered in several feet of shockingly mild water, the stone of the dungeons had become the perfect place to sit and cool off, relaxing and chatting with other students. About an hour after the area became a hotspot, Professor Brunn had made an appearance, her quiet voice cutting through the racket of so many collected students.

"How dare you?" she asked simply, voice throbbing in betrayal. "These are _my dungeons_!"

The students began to look sheepishly abashed, pulling their feet from the water or retreating from the underground chambers entirely. Professor Brunn went on, "If _anyone_ knows how to handle a situation like this, it would be me!" She plopped down on a ledge, the water reaching her waist, and made a flowing, upward gesture with her wand. " _Ebullio aestus estus_!" The water in front of her began to bubble merrily as steam rose from the surface. "Ahh…" the Potions professor sighed, relaxing further into the water. "It's a good thing all of my ingredients and chambers are warded, isn't it? If only you had invited me earlier."

A cheer went up around the room as people realized that their fun had not ended. Several of the older students begged to learn what they called 'The Hot Tub Charm', and Brunn taught it to them willingly enough. Soon, the entire dungeon had turned into one giant, heated, bubbling pool. Fleet had briefly come down the stairs and began to lecture the students about respecting property, but when she caught sight of Professor Brunn waving cheerily from across the room, the Headmistress had closed her mouth very tightly before turning and walked back up the stairs.

The next night was graduation night and the second-year group went in support of Niccolo, who had unofficially been adopted by them. The evening was warm without being hot, breezy without being windy, and somehow, there were fireflies but not mosquitos. Surrounded by friends, Cari thought briefly that the night would be perfect… except for one unwelcome addition: third-year Arsenia Aguilar seated confidently on Shadow's other side.

The ceremony began and the seventh-years walked in to the sound of the band playing. While the first speaker droned on, Cari and Lydia leaned together and began to whisper. "You have no idea how long I've been looking forward to this," Lydia confided softly.

"Are you serious? I think this school is losing a strong Quidditch captain and one of their best stude- I'm just messing with you. I've been waiting for this, too," Cari chuckled. "How long do you think she'll cry?"

"Oh, I don't even care about that. I want to see how _hard_ she's going to cry. I'll guess that it won't be enough to wipe off all of her makeup, but enough to smudge it a good bit." Their giggles began to attract unwelcome attention, and the girls dropped the conversation.

During the ceremony, Cari and Lydia took turns sneaking looks over at Arsenia, but the girl seemed collected enough. They were patient, though. When Professor Fleet called, "Niccolo Rossi," they both risked glances at the same time, more than ready to see the girl thoroughly miserable, but they were shocked to find that she wasn't crying. In fact, she wasn't even watching the stage. Instead, she had wound both arms around Shadow's bicep and was whispering to him, an adoring look in her eyes.

Lydia made a disgusted sound. "Ugh. Now we're going to have to put up with her being around even more often! This is the worst day of my life."

"Yeah, I know," Cari agreed. She stared at Arsenia's perfectly-manicured hands clutching Shadow's arm. An uncomfortable feeling was building in the pit of her stomach, one made up of anger, jealousy, and a sense of being too late. She didn't like it, not one bit. Biting back the urge to march over and sit between them, Cari turned back to the stage, taking a deep breath in through her nose for strength.

* * *

Author's Note \- First off, so sorry for the delay on this chapter! I'm back home visiting family and the day got away from me. In my defense, it's still Monday here. Secondly, thanks for reading! Please drop me a review if there's anything you particularly liked or hated. I hope you enjoyed and that I'll see you next Monday (hopefully on time)!


	35. Wrapping Up

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I own exactly none of the rights to _Harry Potter._ Let's be honest: I don't even own all the merch I want. If I owned the franchise, I would be in deep trouble. Anyway, only the original elements of this story are mine.

* * *

Wrapping Up

With a relieved sigh, Lydia shrunk the full-length mirror, resting it gently in her bad, and canceled the charm on her footlocker. Cari followed suit on the last task and they both stood back, surveying the now empty and undecorated room. "I can't believe another year is over," Cari said, half lamenting and half victorious.

"I know," Lydia agreed. "It's crazy that we're going to need a new theme in just a few months."

"Not exactly what I was getting at, but… Now that you mention it, since we've each had a theme, what is your plan for next year's decorations?"

Lydia smiled secretively. "Oh, Cari. You know I can't answer that. It would take the surprise out of it and surprises are fun. You'll just have to wait and see."

Cari would have pressed further, but they were cut short by a frantic knocking on the door. When it was opened, a frazzled-looking Shadow stood on the other side. Still not thrilled at his choice in romantic partner, Cari asked coolly, "What is it?"

"We really need your help. Both of you. See, Eric's mom sent all of this stuff for him to decorate our room with and we left packing until last minute since we thought we could just shrink it and be done with it. Well, apparently, this is pretty rare stuff, and Eric's mom must have put a spell on most of it so that it can't be shrunken down. We have to be out of the dorms in half an hour and we'll never get everything packed in time without help. Will you give us a hand?"

Lydia beamed. "Of course we will!"

Casting them a grateful look, Shadow hurried off across the hall while Cari turned to Lydia. "Seriously, we're helping them? Why? I thought we were mad at Shadow."

"We can't just leave our friends to get in trouble when they don't have their things cleared out in time, Cari! That's now how you treat people." Lydia's face was serious, but Cari knew better than to take her roommate at her word.

"Yeah, whatever. I think this is just because you have a massive crush on Eric."

Lydia's lips twitched and she eventually gave in to her smile. "Okay, it helps that the boy is very, very good-looking. But we would do this for anyone. Come on, let's get it done."

As they walked into Shadow and Eric's room, Cari couldn't help but give an impressed whistle. The walls were literally filled with shelves, and less than a quarter of them were empty. Eric blushed slightly at the sound and explained apologetically, "My mother thought it would be a good idea to send me the souvenirs I've collected over the years. She never told me how much stuff it was going to be."

Immediately, Cari and Lydia each grabbed a duffel bag and began carefully packing it with delicate objects. "How did you get so much stuff?" Lydia asked in the silence of the room.

From the corner of her eye, Cari could see Eric shrug. "My father is an ambassador and my mother is an archeologist. I traveled a lot growing up and I always wanted to have something to remember each place. You end up with a lot of stuff that way."

Even working as quickly as she possibly could, Cari couldn't help but notice that many of the objects she was packing were not the typical tourist fodder. Instead of plastic and cheap materials, Eric's keepsakes ran more to creations of stone and wood, pictures of his family in some of the most famous places in the world, and a lot of carved figures that seemed absolutely ancient. Saying a silent prayer that none of the ceremonial-looking figures were cursed, Cari packed as many as she could into a single expanded-interior bag.

When the room was finally empty, their half hour was almost over. Lydia, whose parents had been waiting for the past ten minutes, hurried off to the cafeteria after saying a quick goodbye to everyone and promising to write to Cari.

Shortly afterward, Eric's mother walked in. "Hello, Eric. Oh! I see that you have all of your articles packed away. You didn't have to do that. There's a simple spell that shrinks all of them and they fit in this bag." She gestured to the padded black bag in her hand and frowned. "I told you that when I dropped you off here in August. Didn't you remember?"

Everyone turned to collectively glare at Eric, who smiled sheepishly. Mrs. Wilkerson shrugged, shrunk all of the expanded bags, and packed them inside the single black bag. "If you're ready, Eric?"

"Sorry, guys!" Eric whispered. "I'll see some of you over summer break. Thanks again for the help!" He and his mother left the area, walking quickly toward the cafeteria.

"Well," Chayton said in the silence. "That was a completely pointless waste of my time. Almost as much as this year has been." He turned to Shadow. "Can we please go to the cafeteria now? I want to get out of here before Echowick gets another chance to sucker-punch me."

"You didn't have to stay this whole time if you didn't want to," Lionel pointed out.

"No, I can't. He's my ride," Chayton said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Shadow.

"Okay, whiner. Let's go before I have to call the whaa-mbulance." Chayton punched Shadow in the shoulder, though he smiled as he did it. Rubbing his shoulder – though trying to look like he wasn't – Shadow held the door open and motioned for all of them to leave the apartment ahead of him.

Cari had expected that the cafeteria would be mostly empty, but was surprised to find it still extremely crowded. Sure, the Floo could only handle one person at a time, but students had been allowed to leave for nearly two hours. Even the younger students, who weren't allowed to Floo by themselves, were still accompanied by parents who Apparated onto the school grounds.

Tessa, Toby, Willa, and Jael approached, parting the crowd. "There you guys are! Where have you been?" Tessa called in a loud greeting.

Briefly, Shadow explained what had happened, different people pitching in in as they went along. When he finished, Jael burst out laughing. "It figures! He's the only one that kind of thing would happen to – well, other than Fletch, here." She reached out and patted Fletchmeister on the back, but the boy pulled away sharply.

"Fantastic," he bit out. "I'm glad I'm one of the two people everyone expects to screw stuff up." Jael tried to explain that she had been joking, but he raised a hand, cutting her off. "You know what? I think I hear my parents. I'm going to go track them down. See you guys later." He walked off, smoothing down his dark red hair.

"Well, that was weird," Cari said, stating the obvious, but needing to break the silence.

"I really didn't mean anything by it," Jael stated, looking distraught by Fletchmeister's reaction.

"We know," Tessa said soothingly. "He's been acting strange lately, really angry and upset all of the time. Or he just doesn't talk at all. Does anyone know what's going on?"

Chayton shrugged. "He's lonely." They all stared at him, the girls in confusion and the boys in accusation. He made a face. "Don't tell him I told you."

"He's lonely." Willa repeated, studying Chayton. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means," Shadow explained, "that Fletch decided he wanted a girlfriend, but none of the girls he asked out were willing to give him a chance. Most of them said he was too much of a goofball or that they didn't think he was smart enough." He began to grow visibly angry. "They were horrible about it, totally ignoring that he's a really good guy. He's not stupid or a goofball; he just likes to make people to laugh. It isn't like-"

"Shadow!" Tessa cut in. "We all know how great Fletch is. He would do anything for anyone."

"Would you happen to have the names of the girls who were so terrible to him?" Willa asked. The fierce, chilling look sat oddly on her lovely face, but was no less threatening because of it.

Jael interrupted, raising her voice to speak over the others. "If you boys would just talk to us and let us know what's going on, so many of these problems could be avoided." The group quieted, paying attention now. "I happen to know of someone who thinks that Fletchmeister is the most attractive boy at Echowick."

"You're kidding!" Toby looked shocked. "You like Fletchmeister?"

"What? No! I mean, he's a nice kid, but I prefer a little more… Anyway, no. My apartment-mate, Jackie, has quite a crush on our friend."

Willa turned to Jael, seeming startled. "She does? How do I not know that?"

Jael smiled softly at her friend. "Because you scare her. But, yes, she has a crush on him. If Vertie asked her out, she would be the happiest girl in the world."

Shadow rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Vertie..? I don't think I know of anyone named Vertie."

"Hmm, I don't know," Chayton added. "I think I might have heard something about him at the beginning of our first year, but he disappeared pretty quickly. Better tell your friend Jackie that she's out of luck."

"For Merlin's sake!" Tessa cried. "You just heard that there's a solution for all of your friend's problems and you're going to waste time making dumb jokes about his nickname?"

"Dumb?" Shadow asked, offense written across his face. "You are sorely mistaken, madam. I believe the word you were looking for is 'hilarious'."

She glared at both of them and Chayton cleared his throat. "I'm going to go see if I can find the meister of Fletch, tell him the good news." He disappeared into the crowd, followed closely by Jael and Willa, both walking on tiptoes in an attempt to see over the crowd.

Once they had walked away, Shadow, Tessa, Toby, Lionel, and Cari were left sitting at the second-year table, surrounded by students waiting to leave. After a few moments of chatting among themselves, something strange started to happen: girls of all ages were coming up to the table. Specifically, they were approaching to speak to Shadow. From what Cari managed to overhear, Shadow's parents knew a lot of people and were open to entertaining guests on a regular basis. The girls were mostly ones whose parents were friends with Shadow's family and they wanted to flirt with him and mention casually that they would see him over summer vacation.

After the fourth visit, Lionel leaned back in his chair and fixed Shadow with a calculating look. "So, sounds like you have a lot of company lined up for the summer, huh?"

Shadow waved this away. "Not me, really. More my parents and their parents and they get dragged along so we just hang out."

"Mm-hmm," Tessa hummed skeptically. "And it didn't strike you as being at all strange that every one of them is female and close to our age?"

"Not really. But hey, you guys are always invited to come over, too! My parents wouldn't mind, and it would be nice to see some people I actually like when we aren't in school."

"That… Kind of sounds like it would be fun, actually," Toby said, sounding surprised. "Are you sure that you wouldn't mind having everyone at your house?"

"Mind? No, not at all. Like I said, it's either you guys or the kids of my parents' friends. Would any of your parents mind? We're hooked up to the Floo and everything, or they could just side-along you if they would rather Apparate."

"I'm game. What do you think, Cari?"

Lionel's question rather put her on the spot and Cari blushed. "I don't think it would be possible for me, sorry." Somehow, the story of her parents had never come up, and Cari gave a brief explanation of the situation with her mother.

When she had finished, Tessa seemed horrified. "That's a pretty major secret to keep from your mother! I'm sorry. It must be tough."

Cari smiled dismissively. "To be honest, I don't really think about it much anymore. But I doubt I could get away to hang out, as much fun as that sounds."

The revelation caused an awkward silence, one Cari was about to break when another girl walked up to speak with Shadow. It was Arsenia and Cari just managed to stifle a groan. "Hi, Shadow," she purred, flipping long hair over a shoulder. "Did you hear? Our parents already have a dinner party planned for next week. Sounds like we'll be on our own again. Do you still have the gazebo by the lake?"

Before Shadow could answer, Jael and Willa approached, followed shortly afterward by Chayton. Arsenia eyed Willa, giving the gentle girl a hate-filled glare. "Well, I don't want to keep you from your _friends_." The last word was pronounced with something close to scorn, but her face never moved from its carefully attractive lines. "I'll see you next week, Shadow." With a little finger wave, she was gone.

"Ugh," Chayton commented as the girl left. "Why was Arsenic Aguilar talking to you?"

Shaking his head at the nickname, Shadow said, "She's coming to my house with her parents next week. They have some kind of a dinner thing planned."

"Wow, whose familiar did you kill to deserve that kind of curse?" Jael asked, eying him with fake sympathy.

"Hey, now!" Lionel said defensively. "Shadow's one lucky guy to have her at his house. Arsenia is super hot."

Everyone but Lionel and Shadow groaned. Chayton shook his head, "Nah, man. Trust me, she's not worth it. She's poisonous in every sense of the word. Shadow needs to keep as far away from her as he possibly can."

"Did you find Fletchmeister?" Shadow asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"No," Willa said, sounding regretful. "He had already left by the time we got to the other side of the room. Can anyone get in contact with him at his house?"

"Yeah, definitely! That was Jackie Burkes, right?" Shadow literally had a scrap of parchment out and was already jotting down a quick note to Fletchmeister. Before he finished it, he filled Jael, Willa, and Chayton in about the get-together at his house and all seemed on board, so Shadow added it into his letter.

Before long, the cafeteria had grown noticeably emptier and students continued to filter out slowly. One by one, everyone left, leaving Chayton, Shadow, and Cari. Cari had known she would be stuck at the school until Daniel's shift ended, so she settled in as Chayton made yet another trip to the snack-filled table set up on one end of the room.

"I hate that you won't get to come over during the summer," Shadow said suddenly.

Cari shrugged self-consciously. "That's the price you pay for having a complicated life, I guess. Anyway, it sounds like you'll have plenty of other company."

"I always prefer quality over quantity." Shadow's direct gaze was making her oddly uncomfortable, but in a nice way. The whole thing made her blush, especially since he was so close, sitting directly beside her instead of across the table as usual.

"See you soon, Shadow!" Arsenia's simpering voice called. Shadow lifted a hand in acknowledgment, smiling briefly.

Cari gritted her teeth and began talking before Shadow could think about pitying her again for her situation. "You know, I came across an interesting idea in my Broomsmith classes and I've been dying to bounce it off of someone. You know, get a fresh perspective."

This worked fairly well as a topic-changer, as Shadow's expression changed from one of regret to one of intrigue. "Of course! I'd love to hear it."

"Well, there's a theory that brooms are highly attuned to their riders if the two are compatible. The author of my textbook compared it to how a wand responds to its witch or wizard. That got me thinking: what if someone made a broom that was essentially a wand?" Shadow looked slightly confused, so Cari elaborated. "What I mean is that a broom is made of enchanted wood just like a wand is. If you could find a way to infuse a magical core into a broom, they would basically be the same thing. Think about your wand. It's rowan with a rougarou-hair core, right? Well, if I made a broom from rowan wood with a magical core of rougarou hair, it should function as a closer match to you magically than a regular school broom made of whatever wood they had lying around without a core at all. Make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense!" Shadow exclaimed, unexpectedly hugging her tightly. "You're a genius, Romana! Do it."

Pulling back, Cari studied her friend. "Do… what?"

"Build it! Make a broom that matches my wand and I'll gladly be the first one to test it. It's an amazing idea. I'll be the best Quidditch player anywhere and you'll make a fortune selling custom brooms to wizarding society!"

Abruptly realizing how close they were sitting, Cari pulled back. "Sh-Shadow, I can't make a broom like that. For one thing, I'm not even sure it's possible. For another, I wouldn't know where to get all of the materials. It just isn't feasible."

"Of course it is! I'll get the materials. Please, Cari?"

It was a bad idea. A horrible idea, actually, and yet Cari was finding that her willpower couldn't stand up against Shadow's pleading eyes. "I- I really- Oh, all right."

"Awesome! I'll send you an owl and you can tell me what you need."

"It might be kind of expensive, Shadow," Cari warned, making one last bid to change his mind.

He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I'm a half-blood, but my parents both make a lot of money. Not bragging, just letting you know. I'll just tell them I'm working on a project and they'll get me whatever I need."

"Shadow!" Chayton called. "Your mom's here. Let's go!"

Sure enough, there was a red-haired woman with Shadow's bright blue eyes standing next to Chayton. She smiled and waved at the pair, both of whom waved back. Shadow turned back to Cari, grabbing her hand before she knew what was happening. "I'll miss you this summer, Cari," he said earnestly, making her blush once more. "Think of me, okay?"

He was gone before Cari could say anything else. Chayton smirked at her from across the room. When Shadow and his mom fell into conversation, headed for the fireplace, he called, "Have a good summer, Romana!"

It was easily the fastest-moving summer of Cari's life. Between wondering what Shadow had meant with his final statement, she spent time with her mother and Byron, wrote back and forth to her friends, and started working on the blueprints for Shadow's broom prototype. Naomi seemed determined to spend more 'family time' together, so weekends were set aside for hiking, carnivals, movies, and every other excursion they could think of. During the week, days spent at home usually meant swimming, climbing trees, playing games in the yard, or planning their next adventure.

Byron was constantly asking Cari to draw with him, but was only ever interested in drawing castles. He was starting to draw them extremely well, but his preoccupation with the particular subject made Cari curious. Some of the buildings looked familiar, but when she asked if they were from movies or pictures, Byron always said no. They just popped into his head, he explained. When Cari brought it up to her mother, Naomi only laughed. "He only draws castles when you're around, Cari. Maybe you should lay off the Disney movies or something." Cari laughed along and conceded that her mother might have a point. Still, something niggled at the back of her mind.

When Byron went to his yearly summer camp, Cari and Naomi spent as much time together as possible. They watched gooey movies, went on several shopping trips, and had lunch at their favorite bistro nearly every day. It was strange for Cari to have her mother all to herself, but she had to admit that it was nice. She had grown to love Echowick, and wouldn't trade her time at the school for anything, but she did miss having the chance to see her mother every day.

Before she knew it, the time had come for Cari to return to school. Each time she had left home, the departure had gotten a little bit easier. Now, Cari and her mother both got a little watery, but could keep the tears at bay with jokes and reminders of the decently short time until Christmas vacation. While Daniel cooled down the car, Naomi and Byron gave Cari tight hugs as they said their goodbyes.

"Cari!" Byron said, holding up a carefully folded square of paper. "I drew this for you. I've been working on it forever."

"Aww, thank you, Byron! Do you want me to open it now or wait until I get to school?"

Byron looked conflicted while Naomi laughed. "He's worked so hard on it. You better open it now so he can see your face."

After finding out that Byron had put so much work into a present for her, Cari knew she had to react like it was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. That was just how things worked. Steeling her fact to have a stunned expression ready, she opened the paper and felt herself blanch.

It was Echowick.

* * *

Author's Note \- Bum bum buuuuhhhhh! Hey, nice to see you. I noticed you were suffering from a distinct lack of cliffhanger in your life, so I went ahead and fixed that for you. You're welcome. Sorry for rushing through the summer, but there are only so many ways to say, 'she really didn't do much of anything except spend time with her family'. In any case, we'll pick right back up again next week! Drop a review if you so choose, and whoever my guest reviewer was last week, thank you so much for the feedback! It means a lot. Have a great day!


	36. And Back Again

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter._ That is all.

* * *

And Back Again

"Cari?" Naomi asked, sounding concerned. "Is everything okay?"

Cari shook herself internally, forcing a smile. "Everything is fine, Mom. Byron, how did you forget to mention that you're so good at drawing? This is amazing!" Byron beamed. "Is this another picture that just popped into your head?"

"Yeah! I dream about this place almost every night, but this place more than any other." Byron went on, describing his various dreams as Cari went back to studying the picture.

It was Echowick from one of Cari's favorite perspectives. During games, or just before them, there was a specific point of view when she checked the western goalposts. If one glanced over at the right place, Echowick spread out across the land, windows shining in the morning sun. The school looked thoroughly impressive from the air, and Cari took every opportunity she could to soak in that view. Byron had nailed it. Every vine and stone block, every spire, every dorm building was represented. She had to admit that it did look kind of like a castle from so far in the air.

Outside, Daniel honked the car horn. The sound cut short Byron's explanation of how he had dreamed of flying through the air and Cari quickly took the opportunity to hug her mother and brother, thanking Byron once more, before leaving.

"Finally," Daniel said as she slid into the car. "I was starting to worry that everyone had a breakdown like your first year. Was your mom crying?"

Cari's father had already started backing out of the driveway, which was the only reason she didn't show him the drawing herself. "Byron wanted to give me a present, a drawing of a castle he did for me." Daniel hummed, making a _that's nice_ kind of noise. "It's a picture of Echowick."

Daniel hit the brakes suddenly, but they were on a main road, so he couldn't stay stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Dad, I mean it's a picture of Echowick. I don't know how he got it so clearly, but it's obviously of Echowick and I even know where the view of the main building is from." Daniel lifted a brow, clearly asking for more of an explanation. "It's a place I fly before games. It's my favorite view of the school and it's like Byron saw inside my head to draw it. I don't know how else to explain it, but I don't have any pictures of the school for him to get an idea of how it looks. He said that he dreams about it."

"He dreams- Oh. I might have an idea of what's going on, but it's going to sound a little crazy." Cari motioned for him to go on and her father took a deep breath. "There's a practice in the wizarding world known as Legilimency, which is kind of like reading someone's mind. Of course, since it has to do with the brain and brain waves, it is far more complex than the Muggle idea, but it can be done. It's possible, considering what you just told me, that Byron is an extremely talented Legilimens and is… well, sort of tuning in to your dreams."

Cari nodded, mind whirring. "How possible is that?"

"I've never heard of anyone being that naturally skilled at Legilimency. Normally, it requires years of study and hard work to even be passable." He sighed. "But, of course, there's always a chance that Byron is tremendously talented. To be honest, I can't think of any other explanation for that picture, especially if your mother says that he only draws castles when you're home from school. I'll keep an eye on him and see if anything else strange happens."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Cari apologized. "I didn't know, or I would have tried not to think about school at all around Byron."

He waved her away. "Don't be ridiculous. How could you have known when no one else did?" Daniel's expression turned considering. "Though if you find yourself with free time at school, you could begin studying Occlumency. It's the counterpart to Legilimency, focusing more on defense of your mind than searching through others'. There's not much you can do without someone to tell you if you're succeeding in shielding your mind, but if you can begin to learn the theories behind it, maybe there's someone at the school who I can ask to help you out with putting the skill in practice."

"That reminds me: how do classes work in third year? I dropped two classes, and Fleet said we'll focus more on our specialty classes, but when?" Cari had honestly been wondering about that on and off for most of the summer, but it had never seemed like an appropriate time to ask.

"Oh, that's easy. Wednesday and Friday are for your specialty classes. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday are regular class days. Also, instead of being divided up with two Wings per subject, each class will be made up of all the third-year students."

"Ugh. It's going to be ridiculously crowded, isn't it?"

"Some of the classes will be, especially if it's a hard subject or the teacher is popular. Transfiguration and Potions are almost always stuffed full of third-years. It'll be a little hectic, but some of your classes will be empty. Next year, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will all be specialty class days and you will have dropped two more classes if you choose. Your Tuesday and Thursday classes will be all of the remaining fourth- and fifth-years together. Echowick scheduling is a little confusing, but it's all aimed at giving you your best chance for succeeding in your future careers and cutting down on the amount of useless higher learning you need to do. Take you, for example. You don't need high-level Potions, not really. You could drop that one for your next year and just choose not to have to learn to make certain specialized potions that you'll never need to be a Broomsmith."

That was more than enough to keep Cari deep in though for the rest of the ride to Echowick.

Cari and her father made their perfunctory stop in the Administrative Building for Cari's schedule and apartment key. To Cari's surprise, Professor Gregory was one of the people handing out information, and she quickly made her way over to his stand. The table was filled with colorful flyers about flight lessons. There were two scheduled dates: one in September and one in May. "Hey, Professor Gregory," she greeted.

"Miss Romana! I hope you enjoyed your summer. Are you ready for a new school year?"

"Kind of. I'm surprised to see you here. I would have thought you would avoid this place like the plague." Cari gestured around the crowded room, filled with nervous first years, boisterous seventh-years, and everyone in between.

Professor Gregory shrugged. "It's a good way to help out, especially since I don't have enough students to worry about setting up a classroom."

"Cari-" Daniel started, walking up behind his daughter. "What… Wilton! How's it going?"

With a loud groan, Gregory said, "Daniel! If I had known this was your daughter, I would have dreaded the new year a whole lot more."

"Ouch," Cari complained, though she had to smile when she heard the banter floating back and forth between the two.

"Nothing personal, Miss Romana," Professor Gregory said with a grin. "It's just that your father was probably the worst-behaved student at Echowick in our time."

"You two were here at the same time?" Cari asked, intrigued.

"Well, we shouldn't have been, but you can only serve so many detentions before they start holding you back in school," Daniel chuckled. He stuck out a hand for Professor Gregory to shake. "It was great seeing you, Wilton, but I have to help this one get settled in."

"Nice seeing you, too. Don't mess anything up on the way, or they'll make you fix it!" Gregory gave them one last smile before returning to handing out flyers. Daniel led the way back outside.

Cari grabbed her bags from the back of the car as Daniel stood back, watching the parking lot. She slammed the trunk shut, easily balancing her three bags. "Ready, Dad?"

He held up a hand absently. "Hang on just one second. These people are driving like maniacs. Take that guy for example-" Daniel cut off suddenly and they both jumped at the tell-tale _screech-crunch-shatter_ of a car accident. Cari whipped around and caught sight of two cars lurching to a stop, irreparably twisted together. As they watched, the driver of each car got out, checked the damage, and began screaming at the other for reckless driving.

Daniel looked around, and Cari could tell he was checking to see if there was another security guard in the area. There wasn't. "Cari," he started. "I have to call Pat. He's the guard on duty, but I have to stay, too, since I saw the accident happen. Hopefully, it won't take too long."

"That's okay, Dad. I'm sure I can get this stuff to my apartment. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? This really won't take very long." Cari shook her head and concern crossed Daniel's face. "All right. What's the new apartment number? I'll come there when I'm done."

As the shouting grew more intense, Cari winced. "It's really okay, Dad. It sounds like that is going to take some time to sort out. By the time you're done, you'll need to head home before Mom wonders what's keeping you at the airport so long." She gave her father a quick hug. "I'll see you later, Dad. Be careful with these maniacs."

Daniel hugged her back. "Goodbye, Cari. I'll try to see you sometime in the next week. Have a good first few days. I love you!"

"Love you, too," she returned as he walked toward the two drivers who were now threatening each other in loud voices. The trip to the Physical Wing wasn't difficult so much as it was slow. First years, as always, had brought far too much stuff, and so needed at least one family member – sometimes two – to help carry all of it. Half an hour after leaving the Administrative Building, Cari was finally outside Building 3, Dorm C.

"Cari!" a joy-filled voice called from down the hallway. She turned to find Fletchmeister approaching, arm wrapped around a girl.

"Hey, Fletchmeister. How was your summer?"

"It was wonderful! Have you met Jackie?" he indicated the girl at his side. She was tall and curvy, her thick, dark brown hair framing a full, round face. Jackie had a small mole on the outside of one of her green-brown eyes.

"Uh, no, not officially. Hi, Jackie, I'm Cari. I think we've had classes together over the past couple of years."

Jackie stretched a hand out to shake, which impressed Cari to no end. "We definitely have! You helped Mr. Kreer and Jael escort me to the Hospital Building when I hurt my leg in first year. I don't know if you remember that…"

"Of course I do," Cari laughed. "I was so scared, I think it's permanently scarred into my brain!"

Fletchmeister interjected back into the conversation. "Yeah, good times. Anyway, Jackie's my girlfriend now. Isn't that great?"

Cari made the sign of the cross over Jackie's forehead. "May the Lord have mercy on you, child." Fletchmeister looked like he was getting ready to be offended, but she quickly shook her head. "I'm just kidding. Jackie, I hope you realize how lucky you are. Fletch is a great guy."

She felt creepy saying it, like she was hitting on Fletchmeister, but Jackie nodded in wholehearted agreement, smoothing her boyfriend's long, dark-red hair. "I know. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but he was definitely worth waiting for."

At first it was sweet, but then it got awkward. Cari really, really wanted to be out of the immediate area before they two began to kiss. "Okay, I've got to get in there and make sure Lydia hasn't done anything crazy with the room. See you guys at dinner!" It was hard to be sure, but Cari was fairly certain that this was the fastest she'd ever unlocked a door in her entire life.

She leaned against the inside of it briefly, thankful that she had missed the sure-to-be-upcoming show, then pushed off and headed to Room 2, as usual. The door was closed, but Cari had no interest in standing outside and waiting for her roommate to perfect the final touches. She didn't bother knocking; instead, simply threw the door open and stepped inside.

Once Cari entered the room, she could do nothing but stand motionless and marvel at the decorations around her. The walls were painted a velvety midnight blue and a light grid of balsa wood strips divided the ceiling into sections. White lights were strung around and between each section of the grid, creating a thick blanket of steadily glowing and fading pinpoints. The floor was no disappointment, either. Rather than the cobblestone illusion of the previous year, the entire room appeared to boast thick, dark blue carpet interspersed with silvery spangles, perfectly matching the bedspreads. With the blankets turned-down, the pillowcases, black with star charts decorating them in delicately woven silver, were exposed. The overall impression of the room was like being in outer space, complete with gentle darkness and surroundings of twinkling stars.

Cari dropped her bags on her bed and walked toward the window, mesmerized by the view. Outside the glass panes floated an asteroid field, rocks of all sizes drifting lazily past. She pressed her hand to the window, slightly taken aback when the glass wasn't cold.

"So?" Lydia asked from behind her. "What do you think? It's a little more than I usually do." Her voice grew hesitant. "If it's too much, I can always dial it back a bit. You know, take a few things down or repaint…"

"Don't you dare." Cari said firmly. "It's wonderful! I don't know why you chose outer space, but it's perfect!"

"I'm just really into Astronomy lately, I guess. And I figured, after last year, we could both use the peace and silence of space."

"Well, I love it. I mean, we might have to change the window so we can sleep without the light coming in, but other than that, you better not change a thing."

"Oh, don't worry. I think it'll get dark once the sun goes down."

Cari stared at Lydia, not quite sure if her friend was being serious or not, but Lydia just blinked at her innocently. "Lydia," she said slowly. "It's space. The sun doesn't set in space. It'll look just like this pretty much all of the time."

Lydia blushed. "Oh, right. Don't tell Professor Ford about that one, okay?" She glanced around the room, studying everything. "I suppose we could do the mountaintop setting. Or maybe the deep sea one, though that gets creepy with all of the weird fish."

"We can figure it out later," Cari said dismissively. "Did you see that Fletchmeister has a girlfriend now?"

"What?" Lydia's eyes popped wide. "Who is it? Is it Jackie?"

"Ye- Yeah, it is. How did you know?" It had taken Cari a moment, but she eventually remembered that Lydia had already left by the time Jael had revealed that tidbit.

"Please. Everyone knew about that. You'd have to be blind not to see it. Anyway, do you know for sure, or did you just hear a rumor?"

Cari shrugged. "Well, they were practically making out in the hallway after they told me about it themselves, so I'm pretty sure. Now, hand me your schedule." Lydia did and Cari scanned it, comparing it with her own. "Which classes did you drop? I don't think I ever asked."

"I ended up dropping Magical Heritage and Survival." Lydia grimaced. "Sorry, I know you like that one, but it's just not my thing."

Cari couldn't hold back a laugh. "That's okay. I dropped Charms and Astronomy. Great timing, right?" she asked as she gestured around the room.

They shared a laugh but were cut short by a knock on the door. "Ugh," Cari groaned. "I swear, if its Fletchmeister coming to introduce his girlfriend to you, too, I claim the bathroom so I can vomit."

"Deal," Lydia agreed. "On one condition: if it's Eric coming to ask us to help set up his room, you have to let me slam the door in his face."

They walked to the door, but opened it to find Ransom standing outside. Cari had to bite back a smile. Ransom had hit another growth spurt over the summer and now looked even more like Asher than he had last year. Now, only his dimples gave him away as being different. "Hey, Cari. Is Kimber here yet?"

After glancing to Lydia in confirmation, Cari shook her head. "Sorry, we haven't seen her come in yet. Anything we can pass along for you?"

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Not really. I mean, we had a fight over the summer, so things are a little tense. Do you think it would help to tell her I came here, or work against me?"

Cari shook her head, pointing at Lydia. Ransom looked confused, but Lydia stepped forward smoothly. "Hi, Lydia Abrams, relationship expert. First thing we need to figure out is how bad the fight was. On a scale from one to five with one being that you didn't tell her she looked pretty and five being that you made out with her sister, what are we talking, here?"

Ransom looked more flustered than Cari had ever seen him and she was loving it. He glanced down at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, probably a four."

"A four!" Lydia's shock was palpable. "Okay, not only are we going to tell her that you came by, but you also brought flowers and chocolate and told us to tell her that you're very sorry. Actually, scratch that. Kimber is a sucker for stuff she can actually use. You dropped by with her favorite book and a candle in a scent she loves."

"But I don't know any-"

"Shh…" Obviously concentrating extremely hard, Lydia Transfigured a pencil into a candle and an old magazine into a copy of _The Hobbit_. "Okay, here we go. Now, you just write something mushy and heartfelt on this slip of paper, tuck it inside the front cover of the book, and you're golden."

"How did you get so good at Transfiguration?" Cari muttered while Ransom racked his brains for a romantic message for his girlfriend.

Lydia waved it off. "When you plan parties like I do, sometimes you have to improvise. And sometimes, improvisation doesn't work and you have to turn something useless into something different that will work."

"Okay, cool. Are you sure it's a good idea to manipulate Kimber this way?"

"What are you talking about? This isn't manipulation; it's just helping out a friend who's in a difficult situation. There's a difference." When Cari didn't respond, Lydia made a face and turned back to Ransom. "Are you done? You'll want to be out of here before Kimber arrives."

Ransom frantically scribbled a few more words and waved the page around a little bit, rubbing a section of writing to test whether it had dried. Apparently, it didn't smear, so he put it in the front of the book and closed the cover gently. "Here, Lydia. Thanks again for the help. What scent is that candle, by the way?"

"Honeysuckle," Lydia replied. "Her favorite, though it took some work to find that out. Kimber's not the most open girl."

"You're not kidding!" Ransom agreed. "But she never told me that. How am I supposed to say I knew about the honeysuckle?"

"Easy. You came here asking about Kimber, I told you that she hasn't been here yet, and then I ask if everything is okay. Eventually, you break down and tell me about your fight and ask if I know her favorite book and smell because you want to get her something. I tell you because I happen to know, you write a heartfelt note, and bam! You're the sweet boyfriend, Kimber is touched, and you both make up with no harm done."

"But that's almost exactly what happened," Ransom said slowly, sounding confused.

"Exactly," Cari cut in. "The closer you can keep it to the truth, the more believable the story will be. Plus, it's easier for everyone to remember and cuts down on inconsistencies between the stories."

Ransom nodded understandingly. "Makes sense to me. Okay, I'm going to leave before she gets here. Thanks again for the help, both of you!"

After he left, Cari and Lydia focused on unpacking until it was time to leave for the arrival dinner. Most of their group was already sitting at the third-year and greetings flew back and forth as the roommates found a seat and settled down. There were only time for short greetings and for Cari to notice that everyone else seemed to have grown taller before Fleet started in.

Most of what the Headmistress said was the same as her speech in Cari's first and second years. However, just after the section of the opening ceremonies when the first years were given colorful robes, Fleet made a final announcement: "We have one last order of business. There is an upcoming opportunity that will be made available to select students. I cannot disclose too much information, but I will advise you to be diligent in your studies if you wish to be in the running. Chosen students will receive more information at the end of the year. Now, please enjoy your meal."

No one needed more encouragement, digging into the food ravenously. As they ate, the group fell into conversation and the topic soon turned to how everyone had spent their summer vacations. Toby raved about the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C., Willa and Jael told funny stories about Muggle 'Mud Run' marathons they had participated in, and Eric bragged about his time spent guarding an archaeological dig in Borneo. As she listened, Cari watched her friends and their new quirks. Chayton spend his meal staring at Kimber, who picked at her food more than she ate it. Fletchmeister seemed afraid to let go of Jackie while Lionel was doing a lot of winking at a girl down the table.

Before anyone could ask Cari how she had spent her boring – albeit relaxing – summer vacation, she asked about the group hangout at Shadow's house. The group consensus was completely positive, though everyone had something different to remark on:

"Shadow's mom is ridiculously nice!"

"And his dad is hilarious!"

"The food… Oh, Merlin, the food…"

"That house is probably the nicest one I've ever been in."

"There was a pool!"

"It was a lot of fun," Shadow said calmly, gaze sincere, "But it would have been even better if you could have been there, Romana."

There was a murmur of agreement from around the table and the topic switched to classes for a few minutes, but curfew was fast approaching. Rather than risk detention on the first night, the group said their goodbyes and split off toward the different Wings.

* * *

Author's Note \- Sorry for the lack of formatting for this chapter. My wi-fi is on the fritz and I'm forced to edit this on my new phone that I don't quite understand. Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated!

***This 'update' is really just to fix the formatting. Thank you for your understanding!


	37. First Day: Year Three

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related stories, characters, or situations. The only parts of this story owned by me are any original characters, settings, or incidents, the rest are owned by J.K. Rowling.

* * *

First Day: Year Three

In keeping with tradition, Cari was up and at the breakfast table nearly two hours before classes were set to kick off. Holding up his end of the practice, Shadow sat across from her as they ate in silence for a few minutes. When Cari was halfway through her bowl of oatmeal, Shadow spoke.

"How was your summer, Cari?"

She shrugged. "It was really slow. I spent time with my family and just hung around the house. It- actually, it was really nice. I enjoyed it."

"I wish I could see your house sometime. It would be hard to explain a friend coming over from Canada, though. Wouldn't it?"

Much as she hated to quash Shadow's willingness to be in the Muggle world… "It definitely would. But how was your summer? Other than everyone coming over, I mean."

"It was fine. A lot of people came to the house, so the idea of your slow summer with just family sounds like heaven! But it wasn't too bad. Oh, I got the stuff for the broom. Thanks for sending the list so quickly."

Cari's stomach sank. When Shadow hadn't mentioned anything about the broom during the night before, she had started hoping that he had put the idea behind him. Apparently not. She started to ask about what specifically he had gotten, but was interrupted by an arrival. "Shadow!" Arsenia pouted. "Why didn't you come say hello to me last night? I know we saw each other several times over the summer, but still. I thought we were closer than that."

Shadow smiled easily enough, but when Arsenia wasn't looking, he shot Cari a clear _Help me_ look. Arsenia chatted away obliviously and Shadow nodded, obviously trying to feign interest. "Arsenia," Cari said, interrupting the blonde fourth-year, "I'm sorry, but we were kind of in the middle of a conversation. Do you mind talking to Shadow later?"

Shadow and Arsenia both gaped at Cari, who just kept smiling politely. Arsenia huffed. "Well, I'm having a conversation with Shadow too. Why should I have to leave when you're being so rude?"

Cari raised an eyebrow. "Well, quite a few reasons, actually. One, I was speaking with him first. Two, this is the _third-year_ table, and you don't really have a right to be here at all. Three, it sounds like you've had all summer to talk to him and I hope for both of your sakes that the past conversations were more important than this one was. And lastly, I wasn't being rude when I asked you to leave before, but if you want me to get rude with you, I don't have any objections. Questions?"

Arsenia huffed angrily and stood, though she carefully took Shadow's face in her hands and kissed him on the cheek before she left. "I'll talk to you later, Shadow." With a wink, she was gone.

When they were alone once more, Shadow turned to Cari openmouthed. "Why did you have to get that way with her?"

"Why did I-? You were the one shooting me 'help me out of this' looks! And I was perfectly nice to her until she started getting snippy with me. Anyway, broom. You're sure you got every component we need?"

"Yeah. I mean, I got everything on the list you gave me. It's all shrunken down and hidden in my dorm room now." Shadow still looked less than thrilled with Cari, but she felt the same about him at the moment, so she had no complaints.

"Fantastic. I'll get it from you before Wednesday so I can keep it all in the Broomsmith building. Arsenia's right over there if you still want to talk to her."

"Maybe I will!"

"Great! Go right ahead!"

Cari didn't realize how loud they had both gotten until Tessa arrived, sliding into a seat next to Shadow while Toby gingerly sat beside her. "So," she started conversationally. "What are we screaming about on this lovely Monday morning?"

"Nothing," they both said, simultaneously grumpy.

"Okay," she shrugged agreeably. "Well, in that case, which class do you think is going to be the emptiest this year?"

This topic was enough to carry a somewhat-stilted conversation until enough people arrived for an actual conversation. When breakfast was over, everyone headed off to their first class together: Potions. Cari and Shadow took care to walk on opposite sides of the group, avoiding all conversation or eye contact.

The dungeon-type room was always somewhat crowded despite its large size. There were only so many large, flame-heated work stations that could fit in one area before it began to feel cramped. Today, however, the room was ridiculous. It seemed that almost none of the students had dropped Potions, and so there were more than fifty students crammed into the space and not nearly enough desks – let alone work stations – to fit them all.

Professor Brunn, rather than seeming upset or put out by how many students she had to deal with, seemed inordinately pleased. "I didn't know so many of you placed a properly high emphasis on Potions! I had hoped, of course, but never suspected there would be this many…" The professor looked like she could have danced, except that she would have hit at least three students.

"All right," Brunn said, suddenly brisk. "This is how we are going to do things this year. I am going to divide you into groups of four. These will be the groups you remain in all year. No arguments! Each group will share one cauldron and all will contribute to creating brews. Every student will then write up their own reports and turn them in separately, listing who did which jobs."

Cari and Lydia deliberately stood next to each other, praying that the division between groups wouldn't come down between them. It wasn't until Professor Brunn marched down the line that they realized she was counting off group numbers instead. "Group one… Group Two… Group Three… Group Four…" and so on. In the end, there were seventeen groups. Lydia was in group ten while Cari was stuck in group eleven.

There were a few minutes of confusion as everyone tried to the find the appropriate work station and collect all the members of their group. Cari and Lydia took advantage of that. Cari quickly found station eleven and groaned to find Shadow, Chayton, and Duncan Jones already seated there. Not that she had a problem with Duncan or Chayton… "Hey," Chayton greeted casually. "I thought I saw you counted into group eleven."

"Shh!" she hissed. "I'm going to try to switch with someone from group ten so that Lydia and I can be in the same group. Cover for us?" As she explained, Lydia approached with Rosie Chapman – a pretty Writing student from the Art Wing – trailing her. All three looked at the three boys hopefully.

"Hmm…" Chayton drew out, tapping his forefinger against his chin. "Do something nice for the two girls who kept Kimber from breaking up with her boyfriend? Nah." He smiled nastily, crossing arms across his chest.

"Chayton West!" Cari bit out. "Are you really that petty?"

"Yep. Better take a seat, Romana. Brunn's coming around to check on everyone and you don't want me to 'accidentally' tell her your little plan."

Cari wistfully said goodbye to Lydia and sat down, grimacing hatefully at Chayton. "You are such a douchebag!"

"You wound me," Chayton stated tonelessly, holding a hand to his chest, middle finger extended. "Whatever will I do without your esteem?"

"Everything okay here, students?" Professor Brunn asked, dark eyes studying the small group.

"Of course, Professor," Chayton said, smiling sincerely up at her. "Couldn't be better."

She smiled back and moved along, leaving Chayton and Cari to glare at each other. "Well, isn't this going to be a great year?" Duncan said sarcastically, letting his head slump forward to rest on the table.

Fortunately, Professor Brunn lectured for the rest of the hour and dismissed the class on time, instructing them to remember their groups for the following day's class. Cari gathered up her things and moved quickly enough to be the first one out of the room. She was the first one in Survival and took her preferred seat, close to the front, but off to the side.

When Jael and Willa arrived, they spent a few minutes chatting back and forth, comparing notes about the events of the last class. "Yeah, we could tell something was going on in your group," Willa said, surprising Cari deeply.

"You and Chayton aren't exactly subtle when you get going," Jael agreed.

Cari blushed a little, but shrugged helplessly. "It's not my fault he's decided to take everything out on people around him. I mean, I feel for him because he messed up so bad with Kimber and his home situation sucks, but there's only so much slack I'm willing to cut him."

"Understandable," Willa added helpfully. "But still, you're his friend. We all are. That means we have to forgive him when he's a douchebag and he'll forgive us when we're douchebags."

Jael nodded sympathetically. "That's what friendship means."

"Hey, guys. What are we talking about?" a new voice asked, and they all looked up in surprise to find Jackie sitting down with them. She looked taken aback and half-began to stand. "Or I can go sit somewhere else…"

"No, please. Sit with us," Cari invited her hurriedly. "Sorry, you just surprised us. We didn't hear you walk in."

"That's a shock in itself!" Jackie gestured around the room. "It's pretty dead in here."

"I'm sure everyone else will come in when it gets closer to nine. A lot of kids are kind of jumpy being in here since the whole Sahara Desert thing in first year," Jael shrugged.

"Uh, it's actually five past nine. I was late getting here."

"What?" Cari burst out. "Where is everyone?" Including the four girls, the classroom had a total of twelve students in it.

"That's an excellent question, Romana!" Mr. Kreer's deep voice boomed, but he got quieter as he approached the front of the room with the class' full attention. "The answer is that nearly everyone dropped Survival at the end of last year. You guys are the die-hards. Literally, with any luck." He chuckled at his joke as he looked around, noting the faces of the students. "I see we have mostly future Aurors, a few Law Enforcement students, a couple of future Conservation Officers… With the exception of a Survival nut or two, the only ones here are the ones required to be." He fixed Jackie with an intense stare. "You, in particular, I'm surprised to see."

Jackie blushed. "I know, I was a little freaked out after that accident in first year, but I'm training to be a Location Auditor for the NAWT and I have to be able to find my way around some pretty rough terrain. This class comes highly recommended, especially if you're the one teaching it."

Mr. Kreer snorted dismissively, but Cari could tell that he was smiling underneath his beard. "Well, the good news," he said, a gleam in his eye, "Is that we can start with the good stuff now that we've gotten rid of the faint-hearted."

Several of the students looked like they wanted to reconsider being part of the 'die-hards', but Kreer paid no mind, launching straight into acceptable food sources. After a great deal of explanation and description on how to skin and clean a squirrel, he dismissed them to their next class: Herbology.

This was another class that no one seemed to have dropped. Fortunately, the space situation wasn't even comparable to what Potions had been that morning. Professor Tallet had planned ahead. Cari had been excited to see on her schedule that their Herbology class would be taking place in Greenhouse 2 and was even happier to find that the whole greenhouse was set aside for the third-years' use. Just as every other year, Tallet lined the students up along the long furrows of rich soil.

"Okay, you guys know the drill. Here's a seed, go get some fertilizer. We're growing Devil's Snare today. It's as difficult as it is dangerous, and trust me, it's plenty dangerous. Basically, think of it as the plant version of quicksand. When it grows to be several inches long, we will cover staying safe around it, how to avoid being caught, and how to react if it does get ahold of you. For now, be careful, stay alert, and don't do anything stupid." She smiled. "Aren't you glad you chose to keep this class? It's going to be a good year."

By the time the seeds were planted and fertilized to the Professor's satisfaction, there was only time for a short lecture on the growth and uses of Devil's Snare before the students were dismissed to their fourth class of the day: Magical Heritage.

Heritage wasn't as empty as Survival had been, but was nowhere near as packed as Potions or Herbology. Professor Fleet was undaunted by her class of twenty or twenty-five students. "It does not matter especially much that we have a smaller class. There are still enough of you to keep discussions interesting, but few enough to make field trips much easier. And mark my words: there will be plenty of field trips. I don't wish to alarm you, but some of them may require missing some school." Everyone beamed and a few even let out cheers.

"We're going to cover the tribes that inhabited this area. I know we already reviewed them, but I would like to go far more in-depth. Once we understand which groups were which and learn more about their culture, I would like everyone to participate in a few digs nearby. Mr. Wilkerson, I understand that you spent your summer helping on archaeological digs. I do hope you learned a few things."

Eric blushed slightly, but shook his head and called out, "Probably not nearly as much as I'm going to in this class."

Fleet laughed. "Most likely not."

It was an incredibly fun class period, especially considering that the subject was taught by an expert who happened to be their Headmistress. Cari had never seen so many teenage students reluctant to go to lunch as were in this class.

Lunch was interesting, students talking about the classes they had been in and how their individual lessons had gone. Cari enjoyed listening to the intersection of experiences. It seemed that no two of her friends had the same schedule, so some had been in every class so far while others had breaks during one of the hours. Eventually, though, they headed off to their next class: Charms.

Cari stayed sitting at the third-year table since she didn't really know where to go from there. It was a free hour for her, but her knee-jerk reaction of going to the library would take too long. By the time she arrived, she would only have a short amount of time to work before she would have to turn around if she wanted to be back in time for her last class. Besides, she didn't have a lot of homework yet, a welcome change from the hectic pace of second-year.

"Well, fascinating as it is watching you think, I'm going to the student lounge." Cari whipped around to see Shadow staring at her from a distance down the table.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Charms?"

"I dropped that class," Shadow said simply.

Cari gaped. "Are you insane? You're going to an Architect! You need to learn your charms if you ever want to get a job anywhere!"

"I can't say too much, but I'll have other chances to learn Charms from someone other than that idiot." He stood before she could ask what he had meant. "Now, I'm going to the student lounge. You can come with me, as long as you're not going to be as crazy as you were this morning."

"I was not crazy; you were just being stupid." Cari's attention was caught by the second approach of a now-familiar blonde girl. "And speaking of stupid…"

"Shadow, I would like to talk with you if _somebody_ doesn't mind," Arsenia whined with a pointed glare at Cari.

The third-year stood, gesturing magnanimously toward the boy in question. "Of course not, Arsenia. In fact, Shadow has made it abundantly clear that you are his first priority. I'll be in the student lounge. Enjoy." Shadow cast a withering look over his shoulder as Arsenia squealed in delight. Cari smirked and gave a little wave before walking off to spend her hour in blissful silence.

Her final class of the day, Transfiguration, was decently full, somewhere between Potions and Magical Heritage. Interestingly, everyone seemed to be taking the class very seriously, getting out paper and pencils to take notes. Most had obviously read their books as well. It was an odd change.

Professor Perez apparently noticed it too. "I'm glad so many of you chose to keep taking this class. Of course, I do realize that most of you only are here because your future careers require at least three years of Transfiguration, but we shouldn't let that get in the way. We're going to work hard, learn stuff, and hopefully have a little fun along the way."

They did have an enjoyable class, to everyone's surprise. Perez started the students on learning how to work with biologically-complex transfigurations by having them change an orange into an apple. Extra points were given if the apple didn't have any of the citrus flavor when they were done.

Overall, Cari felt comfortable with the pace being set in the classes for her third year, and looked forward to continuing with them. She mentioned this to Lydia, who agreed offhandedly before insisting that they meet up with everyone else for dinner. Cari had told her about the events with Shadow and Arsenia that day and Lydia was extremely eager to watch their interactions at the meal. Cari was far more reluctant, but it turned out that Lydia could be surprisingly stubborn when she wanted something.

Thankfully, dinner was quiet. Kimber was sitting with Ransom at the fourth-years' table, where Arsenia was seated as well. Shadow, despite having been in an argument and then stuck in a conversation with a girl he may or may not have been able to stand, was in a shockingly good mood. In fact, Cari didn't know if she had ever seen him cheerier. The students compared notes on their last two classes of the day and each complaint was met with at least one or two boasting statements from students who had chosen to drop the class in question. From what Cari heard, she didn't miss out on anything by dropping Charms.

Fleet stopped by the table toward the end of the meal, as she did at least once during the first week of every year. "Students, surely you all know that tonight is your first Astronomy class for the year. Please be well rested and ready to meet your Wing Leaders in the appropriate place. As some of you may have noticed, you are the second Astronomy class of the night, from midnight to three am, so you will meet at eleven forty-five. Enjoy." She gave a small smile and left them to their conversations.

"Well," Cari said with a grin. "Whoever has Astronomy tonight, have fun."

"Wait, what?" Tessa asked with an incredulous look. "You dropped Astronomy?"

"Uh, yeah. It's a pointless class and I didn't really learn a lot. Plus, I get to have all my nights to myself. Did no one else drop it?"

Everyone shook their heads as Cari stared on in disbelief. "Cari," Fletchmeister explained slowly. "It's an easy class. Who's going to give up the chance to goof around and get free credits?"

"Me, apparently! There's so much to learn in other classes. Why waste time with something I'm never going to use? And now that I'm thinking about it, why did most of you drop Survival? There's, like, ten of us in there right now."

"Just because you like the class doesn't mean that we all do." Cari glared at Chayton, still not thrilled by his earlier behavior.

"Sorry, Cari," Toby apologized. "But it's not relevant to any of our future careers. That hour seemed like it could be better spent working on projects or assignments for other classes. Like you and Astronomy, actually."

Toby's calm explanation made sense, but Cari still waved at everyone dismissively. "Still… All of you guys have fun at Astronomy tonight." On that note, everyone left to get some sleep and, despite her smug words, Cari found herself a little bored without any other students to spend time with. Plus, she couldn't go to the room unless she wanted to disturb Lydia.

Eventually, she ended up sitting in the student lounge and watching the first _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movie. By the time the film had ended, it was nearly midnight and she had to sneak back down to her room, hoping to avoid any teachers or Wing Leaders that might catch her. She made it to the room safely, quietly gathered her pajamas, and retreated to the bathroom.

Cari changed, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. As she left the bathroom, Kimber slipped inside, jerking her chin in tired greeting. Cari smiled and went back to the room, where Lydia was just getting out of bed. "Hey," she said. "Are you just getting in? I've got to change before class…"

She was headed out of the room before Cari remembered to say, "Kimber just got into the bathroom. You'll have to wait for a few minutes."

Lydia groaned and glanced at the clock. "No time," she complained. "I'll just have to change here and skip brushing my teeth." She and Cari made faces at each other as a knock sounded on the front door. "Can you get that?" Lydia asked, head in her wardrobe.

Cari paused while literally climbing into bed. "Can't you?"

"No, I only have two minutes to get changed!"

"Okay, okay. Just because you didn't plan your night well enough…" she laughed as she dodged the sock thrown in her direction and went to the front door. "Yeah?" Cari asked, pulling the door open. "Asher? Uh… if you're here to pass on a message for Ransom, Kimber is getting ready to leave for Astronomy…"

"I know; that's why I'm here. I'm the new Physical Wing Leader, so I'm going to escort you guys to Astronomy tonight." The older Phillips brother looked her up and down as Cari realized with a start that she was wearing an old tee shirt and her Star Wars pajama bottoms. "You skipping class tonight, Romana, or hoping to start a new fashion trend?"

She blushed slightly. "Neither. I'm actually headed to bed. Apparently, I'm the only third-year to have dropped Astronomy this year, so I'm off the clock."

"You dropped Astronomy?" Asher asked, aghast. "But it's the easiest class ever!"

"Yeah, that's why I dropped it. I'll let everyone know that you're here, so they'll be out in a second. Good night." Asher returned the sentiment as Cari closed the door. When she turned around, she called out a warning to her apartment-mates and returned to the bedroom, where Lydia was just picking out her shoes. "You owe me big," she informed.

"I owe you? For what?" Lydia asked, pausing as she laced up a new pair of sneakers.

"Asher was at the door. He saw my Star Wars jammies."

"You love your Star Wars jammies."

"That doesn't mean I want to show them off to people I have to see in class! You owe me!"

"Sure," Lydia agreed, rolling her eyes. "I owe you. Later. Good night."

"Good night," Cari sighed, snuggling down against her pillow. Everyone else in the apartment left quietly, but they shouldn't have bothered since Cari was already fast asleep.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, I know this update comes as a bit of a surprise, but I thought I'd do something a little different for February. See, today is the one-year anniversary of writing the first line of this story (I'll let you know when it's included, but it's a long way off). I was at work and the line popped into my head. I thought over it for the rest of the day before getting home and opening a Word document, where I started writing and just never really stopped. Anyway, in celebration - and to start digging into the real plot - I'm going to be updating Mondays AND Thursdays for the rest of February, so get ready for that!

All of that being said, we really are getting closer to the chapters I'm currently working on and I would love to hear your opinions and advice if you have any to share. I can be much more flexible with things that will happen in the future and while I do have several non-negotiable plot points, if there are any characters you would like to see more or less of (or ones you feel are poorly-written), feel free to let me know in a review or a private message! Leave me your thoughts, hope you enjoyed, and I will see you on Monday!


	38. Changes

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials, characters, settings, situations, etc. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no profit from writing or publishing.

* * *

Changes

Wednesday was Cari's first day of Broomsmith classes in her third year. She headed to Building 7, smiling to herself. There was almost more of a sense of homecoming in this than there had been in returning to Echowick itself. _Makes sense, though_ , she thought. _Certainly, I spent enough of my time here last year._

She was the third person in the building, after Asher and Professor Gregory himself. _Ransom is probably out with Kimber somewhere._ He wasn't late yet, but Asher and Professor Gregory were already hard at work on something on the other side of the classroom. Cari approached, but the broom on the table in front of them seemed completely normal to Cari.

Professor Gregory saw her approaching. "Good morning, Miss Romana! Are you ready to get started?" Without waiting for an answer, he said, "For your first challenge, see if you can tell what's wrong with Mr. Phillips' new broom."

Asher shook his head disapprovingly. "Professor, you can't expect a third-year to-" Cari nudged him off to the side to give herself room.

She studied the broom closely, looking at it from every angle she could without touching it or rolling it over on the table. "Is it cheating if I move it?"

Professor Gregory shook his head. "By all means, move it, roll it, even pick it up if necessary."

Cari picked up the broom, studying it carefully from all angles. She even paid attention to the twigs of the tail. "Well, first off, the twigs need to be clipped rather badly. I hope this is a 'new from someone else' new broom and not a 'I paid a lot of money for this brand-new' new broom. Although, if you did buy this from someone else, they either didn't fly it or they're dead, because the charms are off. Drastically off, and in a dangerous way."

Professor Gregory looked proud. Asher looked a little disbelieving, but impressed nevertheless. "Good job, Miss Romana!" The professor congratulated. "And that leads us perfectly into your focus this year: which charms – in what order – need to be placed on a broom before it is flyable. I'll give you a section of new broomstick, you can use your book to learn about and copy the runes to be carved, we'll charm them, and then I'll simulate flight to see how your work would do if it were a real broomstick. Make sense?"

The Broomsmith professor wasn't the best at explaining things, but Cari had watched Ransom go through this process during the year before, so she knew what to do. She nodded just as the fourth-year in question burst into the building. "Hey, hi, sorry I'm late. Not that I really am late, mind you…"

"I hate to disillusion you, Mr. Phillips, but you are indeed late," the professor said, voice uncharacteristically stern.

Ransom looked unconcerned. "Sorry, Professor. I was out checking for new students who might not know the way to our classroom. Just trying to help out some poor, lost second-year."

"Nice try, Ransom," Professor Gregory said, still stern but amusement showed in his eyes. "If we did have a new student this year – which we don't – they would not be joining us until Friday. Knowing you, you were probably goofing around in the hallways again."

Ransom grinned and gave a good-natured shrug, stowing his stuff near the desk. Breaking the awkward silence, Asher cleared his throat, directing his comment toward Cari, "Well, I suppose you're glad we don't have any new students."

Cari frowned at him. "Why would I be glad about that?"

"Because," Ransom explained. "You get to be the 'baby' for a while longer. You know, most protection from Professor Gregory, less chance of being assigned the hard work, more freedom to do what you want… It's a good gig. I don't blame you; I wouldn't want to give it up either."

"Are you kidding me? I hate that there aren't any new students in here!" It came out a little louder than Cari had meant it, but that didn't mean that the brothers had to look at her as though she had gone insane. "As long as I'm the youngest one here, I'm the low man on the totem pole. I get stuck with the pointless, busy work-type jobs, like polishing brooms. You guys get to repair them, check the charms, do all of the cool stuff. Meanwhile, I clean them. Do you know how many brooms I cleaned last year? Let me help: All of them."

"Well, here you go, Miss Romana," Professor Gregory said with a calm smile, handing her a section of broomstick handle measuring roughly the same length as her forearm. "Start working and we'll see if you're good enough to do things other than clean and polish the Echowick brooms."

It took her until Friday's Broomsmith class was almost over for the day before she finished working on the carved runes and charming them. Proudly, she presented the finished product to Professor Gregory, all the while admiring the neat way it had turned out. The professor didn't say anything as he accepted the section of handle, silently cast an enchantment on it, and stepped back to raise his wand as it began to float.

At first, the spell seemed like a type of _Wingardium Leviosa_ , but Cari noticed a few differences after a moment of observation. This spell didn't seem to follow Professor Gregory's wand immediately and he didn't appear to have complete control. It was more like an elaborate, magical game of Simon Says. Professor Gregory's wand would dictate a motion and the handle would follow it after a moment, usually slowly and jerking around quite a bit. After he had put it through a few turns and height changes, Gregory smoothly and sharply simulated what Cari was sure would be the equivalent of a dive and gentle recovery. The handle followed the dive hesitantly, building up speed at the swoop, but failed to pull up and crashed into the floor, splintering.

Cari stared down at the decimated handle she had worked so hard on, feeling Professor Gregory's gaze on her. She looked up, meeting his gaze, and asked simply, "What just happened?"

"Broom go _boom_ ," Ransom joked, but she just glared over at him.

"From the beginning, I cast a spell on the handle for testing. It allows for my wand to act as a kind of distance stand-in for a rider. Every motion I made with my wand was the equivalent of a rider trying to persuade the broom to do as he wanted. That hesitation you saw is what we want to work on decreasing or eliminating completely during your next try. In theory, by the end of this school year, you should be able to place charms on a full-sized broomstick that will allow this test to be performed with the highest possible level of responsiveness." Professor Gregory checked his watch and spoke slightly louder to get the attention of Asher and Ransom. "Students, it is now four o'clock. You are dismissed. See you next week."

Cari gathered her things quickly, trying not to let the disappointment of the test show. _I worked really hard on that handle. Why didn't it fly the way it was supposed to?_ She ran over scenarios in her head, started making plans about what to do differently the next time, and began rebuilding her naturally high spirits.

Before she could leave the classroom, however, Professor Gregory stopped her to issue a new section of handle. With a warm smile, he said, "I don't want you to feel that you did poorly today, Miss Romana. In fact, you did very well, especially for your first charmed handle."

Focusing on the grain of the uncarved handle, Cari lifted a shoulder. "It didn't seem like it went very well at all. I just put so much work into it. I really expected that it would be better than that."

"My first charmed handle literally dived full-speed toward the floor at the very first moment my professor moved his wand. It snapped in half and the charms burned through what was left. And I had put far more time into than you had into yours." Professor Gregory's eyes were dreamy, obviously remembering his school days with fondness before his focus sharpened back to Cari. "I reiterate: for your first effort, and especially with how little time it took you to complete, that was an extremely impressive test run. Besides, if learning to be a Broomsmith was easy, it wouldn't take years of dedicated practice and trials."

"But Ransom made that whole 'broom go _boom_ ' comment…"

"Miss Romana, please allow me to let you in on a little secret, which I will deny ever telling you if you decide to rat me out." Eagerly, Cari leaned closer as the professor said, "Ransom's first broom handle really did go ' _boom'_."

"You're kidding! But I don't remember that."

He shook his head. "You wouldn't. It was a Wednesday class, and he walked in with his cocky attitude. You know the way he gets. Anyway, I cast the spell, the handle hovered in the air for a second, then I simulated a slight turn. As soon as I did, the handle exploded, spraying splinters and fragments everywhere. If there wasn't a built-in Containment Charm in that test spell, it would have been a dangerous situation for everyone in the room." Cari laughed and Professor Gregory allowed himself a small smile. "It was a very forceful explosion. I've studied a few theoretical handbooks since then, but to this day, I don't know how he did it."

The professor straightened back up, eyes growing sincere once more. "So, take this handle, spend as much time perfecting it as you want, and if you have any questions, feel free to come to me about it. Please don't feel like you have to work on it outside of this class, either. With two Broomsmith days a week, you'll have plenty of class time to work."

Cari smiled at Professor Gregory. "Thanks, Professor! I'll keep all of that in mind. Have a nice weekend!" He raised a hand in a farewell gesture as she left Building 7 and started back to the main building.

She did think over Professor Gregory's advice as she studied the runes and charms in her textbook. Cari didn't rush into the carving process as she had a few days before, instead spending the weekend reading through a library book about engraving techniques and those most effective for different types of wood, especially kinds that were going to be charmed.

Eventually, nearly a month later, Cari had finished her second handle. If she thought she had been proud of her first handle, this one was nearly worthy of tears. She had taken the time to study the length carefully, choosing a section with the most uniform section of wood grain before sketching out the carvings. Even then, she had made countless adjustments before using one of Professor Gregory's whittling knives to cut the first indentions in the handle, spending countless hours perfecting the marks before carving the runes to the correct depth.

It became routine, even a joke in her little group: Cari was always going to have her little chunk of broomstick with her, sometimes carving, sometimes checking it against her textbook, and sometimes just studying it and jotting down notes about possible improvements. Once, Professor Garbin had tried to make trouble since Cari had her whittling knife with her at the table, and this could be considered threatening, but Professor Gregory had unexpectedly shown up, arguing that Cari was working on a school project and could do so wherever was necessary to complete it. Cari had never seen Gregory argue before and was impressed – though a little surprised – at his ferocity. Shortly, the Headmistress had shown up, intervening before the situation could spiral out of hand.

Calmly, Professor Fleet had looked to the students at the third-year table, asking, "Do any of you feel threatened by Miss Romana working on her Broomsmith project?"

There had been head shakes, a resounding chorus of 'no', and Toby even spoke out, insisting that watching Cari carve had helped him learn his runes for a study in his Scholar classes. Professor Fleet had nodded, satisfied by their answers. "If, in the future, any of you feels as though you are in danger of being stabbed with a whittling knife, please let me know. Until then, gentlemen, I assume this conversation is over?" Professors Garbin and Gregory had both agreed, abashed, and went their separate ways.

Finally, the Friday before the first flight lesson of the year, Cari finished sanding the carefully carved runes, charmed them appropriately, and asked Professor Gregory to test it. Like the previous time, Professor Gregory hadn't said anything when he accepted the handle, but he did give a small smile. He silently charmed the section of broomstick and it hovered until he began to move his wand.

Cari watched unhappily as there was still a gap between his motions and those of her handle. It was a little smoother, she supposed, but the jerkiness was still there. The simulated broomstick's moves were less than graceful, and that bothered her as well. _Why does this keep happening to me? I think it's even worse this time. Merlin, I spent three times as long on this one as I did the last one and for what? Another 'nice try, Cari' kind of handle…_

Expression growing darker and darker, Cari watched as Professor Gregory brought the handle to a stop on a nearby work table. She snatched it up, trying not to let the angry tears sneak down her face as she studied it. _What did I do wrong this time?_

"Miss Romana-" Professor Gregory gently started.

"Don't," Cari choked out, deeply aware of the gazes of Asher and Ransom from where they stood near the professor. "I know it wasn't much better, so don't patronize me. What did I do wrong and how do I keep it from happening again?"

"I don't think you understand," the professor said. "That was one of the best tests I've ever gotten from a student broomstick. I don't know where you get the idea that it wasn't a good test, but the response time, the sleekness of the motions, and the easy way it began the test and landed all speak of a vast improvement compared to your last effort. Cari, your skills are growing at a rate I've never seen from a student. Yours is a truly natural talent. Congratulations!"

Cari could feel that her expression had changed from skeptical to incredulous to stunned surprise throughout the professor's explanation, but she couldn't lie and say that she was happy with the finished product. "I just- I thought it would be better. I spent so much time on this, but it was still jerky and slow to respond. I'm not happy with it yet. That just means I'll have to put a lot more effort into the next one. When can I get started?"

Professor Gregory shook his head, thoroughly exasperated. "Miss Romana, you are being a little ridiculous about all of this. Your handle was a success, even by your high standards, and you could stand to take a little break before your next one."

"But why?" Cari questioned. "I learned so much making the second handle. If I can learn half as much with my third one, I'll just be that much farther ahead."

Looking visibly frustrated, Professor Gregory opened his mouth, but was cut off by Asher before he could say anything else. "It isn't exactly unheard of for a Broomsmith to be dissatisfied with their work, Professor. Some of the most highly-regarded Broomsmiths of all time were considered to be hopeless perfectionists. Able Spudmore, one of the founders of the Ellerby and Spudmore Broomstick Company, said on his deathbed that if he could have one more day of life, he had thought of some improvements for the Swiftstick that might finally convince a Quidditch team to use them professionally. Tragically, he died before he could pass them on to his son, but it just goes to prove my point."

"See? I'm following in the footsteps of the greats here, Professor. Nothing wrong with a little overachievement and perfectionism on occasion."

"Yeah, especially since all of that overachievement and perfectionism will come from Cari. Merlin knows you won't see much from either of us. Let her go for it, Greg."

Professor Gregory held up a warning finger to Ransom. "I told you not to call me that, Mr. Phillips. And Miss Romana, since you're so determined to follow in his footsteps, I want you to write me an essay on Able Spudmore before I give you a third handle. Understood?"

"How long do you want the essay to be?"

"Long enough that it will take you a week to write, whatever length that might be," Professor Gregory said with a sigh. He glanced over his shoulder at the three students. "Nobody tell the Headmistress, but no one has used the brooms since the last time we've cleaned them. I'm just going to use a spell to wipe them down and call it good. Unless the three of you want to stay late to check and polish each one individually?" They shook their heads simultaneously and Gregory grinned. "I thought as much."

* * *

Early the next morning, Cari reported up to the Quidditch Pitch for the first flight lesson of the school year. Being out on the pitch made her smile despite all of the struggles during the year before. She was halfway to the broom shed before she saw an unfamiliar figure unlocking the shed. The person was obviously male, judging by the height and the shoulder width. That, combined with their blond hair, would have made her think it was Eric, except that Eric's hair was straight, not wavy as this stranger's was. No one else was on the field, so she sprinted over as they entered the broom shed.

"Hey!" she cried, leaning against the door frame as she panted.

"Hey, Romana. How are you this morning?" The person turned around and Cari stared in shock. The random stranger was Shadow.

"Uh… I'm fine. Why are you here?" The question wasn't the one she most wanted to ask. More like, 'when did you get so tall?', 'how long has your hair been growing out?', and 'since when have you actually started to look like a guy and not a walking stick?'.

"Professor Fleet asked me to help out," Shadow replied with a smile. "She doesn't think there's going to be as big a crowd as there was last year, but she said it wouldn't hurt anyone if we were a little over-prepared."

He was obviously expecting an answer, so Cari scraped up, "Yeah, I guess. Oh, no. Not that one," she said, reaching out to stop Shadow from grabbing 'her' broom. He pulled back, staring at her questioningly. "Sorry, that one… Well, it doesn't like anyone but me."

Shadow laughed. "You are so strange sometimes, Cari." He grabbed another broom and walked out of the shed, whistling softly to himself. Cari shook her head as she stared after him, eyes trailing up and down his frame… _Purely to figure out when he changed so much,_ she told herself firmly. Now would be the absolute worst time for her hormones to decide that Shadow was crush-worthy.

Cari resolutely pushed the strange feeling aside and left the broom shed, nodding to Professor Gregory, who was getting ready to bring the brooms outside. Once she was out of the old stone building, Cari kicked off and flew two quick laps around the pitch, reveling in the feeling of freedom. She flew one lap a little slower, refocusing on the task at hand. She didn't have to actually teach the group how to fly, thank goodness. The joy of that task would belong solely to Professors Fleet and Gregory. She and Shadow would wander around, correcting students on minor things and answering questions as best they could.

By the time Cari touched down once more, her mind was clear and focused. She took a deep breath as students began to seep onto the Quidditch Pitch, each one handed a broom by one of the professors. The students stood in neat lines, all facing the east end of the pitch, where the professors would join them after a moment. Shadow joined Cari in observing the incoming students, but still unsettled by earlier, Cari didn't have much to say to him. It also didn't help that she had spotted Arsenia Aguilar coming into the area, giggling and waving to Shadow as she passed. Cari only just managed not to roll her eyes and gag exaggeratedly, but the fact that Shadow didn't wave back or call a greeting helped her contain herself.

Fortunately, Fleet and Gregory were expert teachers and before long, she and Shadow were free to move among the lines of students, looking for anyone who might be struggling. Cari didn't know whether to be ticked off or amused when she noticed the trend with Shadow, who seemed to be continuously bogged down with female students asking for help. There was always a chance that these girls actually needed assistance, but Cari herself had only needed to correct three students on her half of the pitch.

Thinking to help Shadow, Cari strolled over to his side of the pitch. "Shadow, could you come here please? I have no idea what I'm doing?" one girl called, her back facing Cari.

"Anything I can help you with?" Cari asked politely.

The girl whipped around, looked Cari up and down, and shook her head. "No, thank you. I think I have it figured out now."

Cari smiled knowingly. "I had a strange feeling that you did." She had taken no more than three steps away when the girl called out for Shadow again. Disbelievingly, Cari turned back to shoot her a look, but the girl merely glanced at her before turning back to Shadow. Cari shook her head and walked down the line, keeping an eye out for anyone who might need help.

At the back of the group, a small first-year girl was struggling quietly, changing her grip on the broomstick constantly. Cari studied her for a moment. _I think I recognize her. She might be one of the first-year Physical Wing students._ After a moment, there was no mistake. She was distinctive with her short reddish-orange hair and impressively tanned skin. The girl made a frustrated noise and moved her hands around once more, glancing to where Shadow stood coaching Arsenia. She shook her head and Cari recognized someone who was as fed up with the girls' blatant flirting as she was.

"Here," Cari said, stepping forward. "It helps if you hold your hands further up on the broomstick. The more distance between your body and your hands, the better balance you'll have in the air. Does that help?"

The girl tried it and nodded excitedly. "That feels a lot better! Thank you!"

"No problem," Cari replied. "What was your name?"

The girl set down the broomstick and extended her hand toward Cari. "I'm Tanya Murphy. I'm in the Physical Wing."

Cari nodded. "I thought so. I try to look at who the new arrivals are every year. Makes things easier for everyone. I'm Cari, by the way, also in the Physical Wing. Anything else I can help you with, Tanya?"

She made a face. "Call me Murphy, please. I hate Tanya. And…" she trailed, biting her lip as she looked over at Shadow. Cari braced herself to be asked if Shadow had a girlfriend, but Murphy burst out, "Is that Shadow Hale, as in the Physical Wing Chaser?"

"Uh, yeah," Cari replied, pleasantly surprised. "But you haven't been here long enough to see him play. How did you know who he was?"

"Duh," she said, with a roll of her dark eyes. "Everyone's talking about him. They say he's the best Chaser who's played at Echowick in over a hundred years!"

"Really? Huh, you really do learn something new… Yeah, that's him, though he's better to talk to when he's not around Arsenia. I'm sure he'd love to say hi to you if you ever get the chance."

"And do you know anything about some student referee wandering around? I heard he was supposed to be here, helping out today."

Cari's chest had swelled with pride, until she heard the 'he' part of Murphy's statement. _Did they decide to add another student referee and no one's mentioned it?_ "Maybe… Do you happen to know the name of the student?"

Murphy had gone back to practicing her grip on the broom. "Roman, I think."

"Romana?"

"Yeah, him!"

Cari sighed. "I'm Cari Romana, the student referee. Obviously, I'm not a guy, but that would be me that you're looking for."

"Oh," Murphy said, looking Cari up and down. "Is it true that you tried to kill Shadow?"

"What? No! That was an accident that actually ended up being the Politics Wing Captain and Beater cheating."

"Yeah," Murphy's voice was skeptical. "But that part sounded a little far-fetched. Is it true that you jinxed the brooms of the Academics team?"

"Wow," Cari said, crossing arms over her chest. "I hadn't even heard that particular rumor. No, that one isn't true at all."

"Is it true-"

Cari cut the first-year off before she could ask anything else. "I actually need to go help my side some more before you guys kick off for the first time. It was nice meeting you, Murphy."

Murphy chirped out a return to the sentiment, but Cari still felt odd as she returned to work with her side of the pitch. Even as she focused on helping any students who needed it, the younger girl's words rolled over and over in her mind. Cari didn't know why the rumors had bothered her so badly, but the words still stung. _Do people really say all of that about me? And to the first-years? They're just getting here and those are the rumors they hear? Some of it wasn't even remotely true, not by a mile! And here I thought I was getting more liked as time went by…_

Mercifully, the lesson was over before too much time had passed. There had been no incidents and Cari had avoided speaking to the strange first-year any more while she helped students both on the ground and in the air. As Cari helped the Professors gather the brooms and return them to the broom shed, she saw Murphy standing next to Shadow, talking animatedly as he nodded in amusement. Cari shook her head in suppressed laughter as she returned to the dorms alone.

* * *

Author's Note \- Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, all of that! If you feel so inclined, please drop me a review of any kind, let me know what you're thinking. Special thanks to HarryPotterFanHermione, for the review on Chapter 37! Have a great day and I'll see you on Thursday!


	39. Tangles

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own any rights, copyrights, etc to the _Harry Potter_ books, movies, or any related materials. All of these belong to J.K. Rowling, her publishers, and Warner Bros. I make no money from the writing or posting of this story, all of which I do because I love it.

* * *

Tangles

At some point in Cari's third year – she wasn't exactly sure when – the group had begun to split in two. Not in the 'they never saw each other' sense of the term, but in the 'girl time vs. boy time' sense. Every Thursday night, the boys would go… Well, Cari wasn't sure where they went, but they went off and did 'guy stuff'. Wherever they went, the girls would usually hide out in one of the third-year student lounges to watch a movie. More often than not, they would use the Physical Wing student lounge, because the girls from other years all knew about this private tradition and avoided intruding, and any boy who stumbled in would take one look at the chick flick playing on the television, groan, and leave the room as fast as was humanly possible.

Interestingly enough, the girls never really watched whatever movie was playing. Instead, they cranked the volume down and talked among themselves while eating snacks, studying, or just hanging out. It turned out to be a great way to solidify their own bonds without the pressure of boys being around, plus it had the added bonus of letting them talk to Jackie without Fletchmeister interrupting every three seconds to needlessly defend her or remind them that he was her boyfriend.

One Thursday night, they were hanging out as usual, not watching _Hairspray_ – not their usual type of movie, but Jael swore by the soundtrack and Cari had vetoed _P.S. I Love You_ – and chatting about everyone's classes.

For someone who had been robbed of time with Doctor Combes, Tessa seemed to be enjoying her Healer classes a lot. "I mean, it's incredible what human beings are capable of surviving," she raved. "If a horse breaks a leg, it's a death sentence. For us, it means a few months wearing one shoe."

Kimber turned around, staring up at Tessa from her spot on the floor. "Wait, what? For us, it means a few minutes with a Healer and a stern lecture about safety. Are they teaching you about Muggle medicine?"

Tessa nodded sagely. "Yeah, we have to learn about Muggle medicine for our first three years, then the next three focus on getting us ready for the college level of Healer classes." She shrugged at the pure-bloods' gaping expressions. "It turns out that Muggles have a few really clever ways of doing things. If something goes wrong with the magic, or there's a special circumstance, we're supposed to know how to handle a situation the non-magical way. I mean, there's not too much of an emphasis on it, so we learn about it now and then never really touch on it again, but it's cool. Muggles are pretty smart sometimes."

Cari had to laugh at this. She couldn't be offended since, as Lydia kept reminding her, she wasn't technically a Muggle. Besides, Tessa's opinion, as generalized as it was, still painted a positive picture of Muggle society. She couldn't really complain about that. Besides, she was hard at work on another broomstick handle, and was determined to make it as perfect as possible. Why would she let a pointless argument distract her from that?

The exclamation of, "Cari!" finally pulled her from her thoughts. As she looked up from sketching the lines of the runes for the tenth time that day, Cari shook her head, smiling a little at how hard she had jumped. "What? Sorry, I guess I was concentrating pretty hard on this." She lifted a hand, presenting the section of broomstick.

"Well," Jael laughed, "I was asking how your Broomsmith classes were going, but I guess that could count as your answer."

Still chuckling slightly, Cari replied, "I guess it could. Well, right now, this is what I'm working on." She flipped the handle, explaining the process of carving, charming, and testing, as well as the way her first two tests had gone, finishing with, "I just want to master this part so that I can move on to something a little more fun."

Willa looked thoughtful. "The way you work on that makes it look like it's fun, at least for you. Is there really no part of you that enjoys the process?"

"Of course I enjoy it! I especially love being able to see an improvement when Professor Gregory tests the handles, but there's so much to learn. If the learning curve on everything is as steep as it is with the handles, I'm worried that it'll take me too long to master making a whole broom. The competition for apprenticeships is fierce enough without starting at a disadvantage-"

Cari cut off suddenly, turning to look at the door with everyone else, but they needn't have bothered; after bursting in uninvited, Arsenia was making a beeline to stand in front of the television. After firmly planting her feet, the pretty blonde placed hands on her hips and glared around the gathered group.

"There's something I need to get out of the way, so stop whatever nonsense you're doing and listen hard," she began without preamble. "It has come to my attention that one of you has an agenda to keep Shadow and I from getting together. I know exactly who this someone is and I'm here to put a stop to it, once and for all."

Cari took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn't really want an argument with Arsenia, but she wasn't going to keep her head down to avoid one, either. She met Arsenia's gaze head-on, but was shocked to find the girl's powder blue eyes trained on Willa. "I don't care how much you like Shadow, Fredericks. You're just going to have to suck it up and walk away. You can't have him, and you need to stay out of my way before you get hurt."

Willa's face showed no surprise, though everyone else's did. When she spoke, her voice was calm and composed, gentle even. "Arsenia, we've had this conversation already. I do not have a crush on Shadow. We are friends at the absolute most and neither of us has the slightest interest in pushing that relationship to something more."

"You're such a liar, Fredericks!" Arsenia's pretty face twisted into a hate-filled expression. "I know you have the hots for him, and I'm not going to leave here until you promise that you're going to leave him alone!"

"I promise I will leave Shadow alone," Willa repeated simply, face serene.

"I don't believe you!" Arsenia screeched loudly. "I'm sick of you keeping Shadow and I apart and it's going to stop, no matter what I have to do!" She moved as though to run at Willa, but Jael stood, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If Willa says she doesn't like Shadow that way, she means it. Why don't you back off and get out of here before I decide to take that insult personally?" Jael's voice was soft, but dangerously so, raising a chill along Cari's spine and making her tense uncontrollably.

Arsenia made a face at Jael, sneering, "Why don't you keep your nose in your own business? I'm talking to Fredericks about this, not you. And we wouldn't have a problem if she would just stop trying to come between Shadow and I-"

"Yeah, I would be a little less concerned about Willa if I were you," Lydia called from the other end of the room, the laughter in her voice cutting through the tension. "Shadow is way more likely to start dating Cari than Willa."

Arsenia rounded on Cari, eyebrows shooting up. Cari shot her roommate a look and Lydia's response was to raise her empty hands in front of her, shrugging as she made a _sorry_ kind of face. She mouthed exaggeratedly, _Better you than her_ , jerking her chin at Willa. Cari glanced over at the quiet girl and had to agree. She would defend herself verbally and even physically if necessary. Willa, she wasn't so sure about. And so, still feeling somewhat betrayed, Cari turned her attention back to Arsenia.

"Is that true, Romana?" the fourth-year female asked. "Do you have a thing for Shadow? Are you trying to date him?"

"I am not trying to date Shadow. We're friends."

Obviously, this didn't convince Arsenia. "You're _just_ friends? You're not going to stand between us? Like I said earlier, something is keeping us apart, and if it turns out to be you, I'll make sure you're taken out of the picture completely."

That did it. Cari had spent too much of her time at Echowick being threatened by people much more frightening than this blonde Dance student to take it seriously. "Arsenia, if there's something keeping the two of you apart, it certainly isn't anyone in this room. Maybe instead of harassing us, you should focus on what unaddressed issues the two of you might have."

"Nice try, but you won't distract me," Arsenia raved. "You two spend a lot of time together. You definitely looked like you were trying to cozy up to him at the flight classes and you did that whole referee thing just to be close to him during matches. Just face it: you're obsessed with him! Just tell me, flat out, that you're not going to try to steal Shadow from me."

With that, Cari's temper snapped and, setting the broomstick handle aside gently, she stood, taking a large step toward Arsenia. "First of all, you're the one with the obsession. Can you even hear yourself right now? You sound like a petty, insecure harpy. Maybe that's why Shadow won't date you. And as for stealing him from you?" She took another step, feeling a fierce inner joy when Arsenia stepped back to keep distance between them. Cari continued softly, making sure each word dripped with the derision the older girl deserved. "Any guy who considers you good enough to date isn't worth a moment of my time."

After staring at Arsenia for a long moment, Cari returned to her previous seat, picking up the section of handle as if nothing had happened. Arsenia faltered for a second, but soon bolstered her bravado. "That's what I thought. Just in case anyone gets any ideas, you should know that I intend to be dating Shadow by Christmas break, and no one is going to get in my way." With that, she flounced out of the room, ignoring the giggles from the girls left behind.

"What an idiot," Kimber said heatedly.

"Just ignore her," Willa suggested. "It's the most effective way for shutting her down. What I don't understand is why you lied to her, Cari."

The girl in question, who had already returned to sketching out her carvings, glanced hurriedly back up. "What lie? I just said that I'm not interested in dating Shadow and implied that my opinion of him will go down if he decides to date her. Neither of which were lies."

"Interestingly enough," Tessa said thoughtfully, "You never actually said that you didn't want to date Shadow, but that's a discussion for another time. Why don't you want to date Shadow?"

"Because I don't..? I mean, I don't really have feelings for him like that." Everyone made skeptical faces and noises except Jackie, who Cari latched on to. "Jackie, you understand what I'm saying here, right?"

Jackie shook her head and smiled. "Sorry, Cari. I'm as confused as everyone else. I mean, I'm pretty sure you like him and he definitely likes you. I thought it just was a timing issue holding you guys back. Why don't you want to date him?"

"Because I don't like him in that way! Wait, what do you mean, he obviously has feelings for me? He's never said anything."

"Oh, Cari," Lydia said sadly. "Guys don't just say that they like a girl. They leave subtle hints."

"You're the one who always says that guys don't know how to be subtle!"

"Yeah, about anything else! Shadow always sticks up for you, and he yells at people when they spread rumors or whatever."

Though she was proven victorious by this, Cari couldn't ignore that she felt a little deflated. "That's just called being a good friend, Lydia! I would defend any of you if you were being picked on, but that doesn't mean I want to date you. No offense."

The last comment spread a wave of giggles around the room, but her friends relentlessly stayed on the topic. Jael ran a hand over her hair, woven into a thick braid, before pointing out, "Yeah, but friends don't hang on every word the other says, or stare at each other when one isn't looking."

Cari was aghast. "Shadow stares at me?"

From the floor, Kimber muttered into her drink, "Yeah, Shadow's the only one playing the staring game…" Everyone chuckled and Cari blushed.

Eager to change the subject, Cari asked, "Willa, can I ask what all of that was about? Why does Arsenia hate you so much?"

Willa gave a graceful shrug. "I don't really know. I try to be nice to her if we happen to meet. I have gone out of my way to avoid giving offense and apologizing for any accidental insult, but I simply rub her the wrong way."

Jael let out a loud snort. "That's not even close to the truth, except for the part about Willa being nice to that cow. What Willa is too humble to say is that Arsenia hates her because she is jealous." Speaking over Willa's soft protests, Jael said, "It's the truth! See, girls like Arsenia like to be chased, but never caught. When they want a guy, they do the chasing and always get them in the end. In her first year, Arsenia had half the guys in the school chasing her. She set her sights on Niccolo Rossi, but could forgive herself for not getting him since he was so much older. Still, all of those guys stopped paying attention to her when Willa got here in our first year and Arsenia is jealous."

"Not that looks should have anything to do with choosing someone to love," Willa added justly. "The attention I get is nothing special. It isn't based on my personality, my talents, or anything about me other than the fact that I happen to be part Veela. I can't really blame her for disliking me for that."

"Luckily, I can," Jael asserted. "You didn't ask to have Veela blood, and I know that you would give it up if you could. Blaming you for that is beyond ridiculous."

"So, in short," Tessa summarized theatrically, "Cari's going to pretend she doesn't like Shadow, Arsenia hates Willa because she's jealous, and we're all about to miss the final number of _Hairspray_ , which happens to be my favorite song of the movie. Everyone satisfied?"

With this not-so-subtle hint, everyone quieted down and turned the volume back up so Tessa could watch her favorite part of the movie. She and Jael were singing along loudly from the very first strain of music. Everyone else – never having seen the movie before – was left to stare blankly at the screen as multiple characters took the stage and sang a verse of the upbeat song.

As the end credits rolled, Jael turned to everyone, her former ire forgotten. "So, what did you guys think?"

Lydia shrugged. "It seemed like it was pretty good movie. I mean, I only saw the opening credits and the final number, plus a little bit from around where Arsenia was standing, but they looked fairly interesting."

"Yeah," Cari agreed, admittedly still a little thrown off by the idea of John Travolta as an overweight 1950s housewife. "I'm sure the last song made a lot more sense when you actually watched the rest of the movie." Kimber and Jackie nodded along with her assessment.

Jael and Tessa looked like they wanted to argue in defense of the film, but curfew was coming up quickly and the girls soon split off toward their separate apartments.

* * *

At dinner one night early in the next week, Lydia was mysteriously missing. No one had seen her since the last class of the day and yet none of them were concerned. Over the years, it had become a habit of Lydia's to disappear and show up randomly a few hours later. Sometimes she had a story and an explanation, but other incidents went unexplained. Tonight was to be one of the former.

Lydia danced to the table, obviously bursting with some kind of news, but being the theatrical teenager she was, she sat and waited impatiently for someone to ask where she had been. No one did. Some time ago, the group had decided that the best way to cut down on some of Lydia's more… irritatingly childish traits was to ignore her until she expressed herself like a grown adult. The girl in question gradually grew more excited even as she began to pout.

Finally, interrupting Eric, she said, "I'm sure you all were wondering where I was for the first half of dinner…" There was a general grumble, which she took as encouragement and went on. "Well, Professor Fleet had an idea she wanted to talk with me about and I was asked to go to her office and consult with her!"

"And?" Shadow asked, softening the somewhat rude question with a smile. "She asks Romana for help all of the time with broom classes or refereeing stuff. How is this different?"

Lydia huffed at him, but her spirits rose quickly back to their previous heightened level. "As it turns out, Fleet wants to have a school-wide Halloween party this year, and since my parties have been such a success over the past two years, she asked me to plan it!"

There was a buzz of shocked congratulations as Tessa asked, "Do you have any idea of a theme you want to do? There's less than a month to plan everything out and get it set up."

"I know," Lydia admitted nervously. "But I think I've come up with an idea that will work perfectly… If I can pull it off, that is."

"Is it another costume contest slash movie viewing? Because I don't know if you can milk that cow for a third year in a row," Chayton pointed out.

"No, it's… well, I can't tell you guys. Not yet. But you'll be some of the first to know!"

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Toby asked earnestly. "I mean, you always have us to help out."

Lydia beamed at the boy. "I'm glad you say so, because Fleet asked me to put together a team of students to help with the party and I said it would most likely be made up of you guys!"

Lionel groaned. "No offense, Lydia, but if there's going to be a party, I would rather be out having fun than be stuck passing out cookies and punch."

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind. If what I have planned works out, you'll be a lot more involved than that. Plus, this party is planned to hit all of the curfews. If you agree to help out, you get to stay until the very end rather than have to leave with the third-years. I mean, you'll have to work on cleaning up, but-"

"We'll get to stay out until seventh-year curfew?" Chayton asked excitedly, just as Lionel nodded sharply and said, "Deal!"

"Perfect! I'll put you down on the list, then. Anyone think they won't want to be involved?" Nobody said a word, and the conversation quickly turned to how late they could get away with staying out and what 'more involved' could possibly mean. Try as they might, no one could get Lydia to give away a single detail about her plans.

That night, Cari watched her now-traditional Monday night movie – this time, _Iron Man_ – before walking down the stairs to her apartment. She wasn't afraid of getting caught anymore. Not that Asher would ever willingly break the rules, but Cari was fairly certain that he wouldn't turn her in for missing curfew. When she arrived in her bedroom, Lydia was waiting.

As soon as she entered the room, Lydia stood from where she had been sitting, fully dressed, on the side of her bed. "Oh. Hey, Lydia. I'm surprised you're already awake."

"Yeah, I had something to talk to you about, and I wanted to take care of it as soon as possible."

Cari sat on her bed, staring up at her friend. "Okay, shoot."

Lydia took a deep breath. "This party I'm planning… It's going to take a lot of work and it's going to be pretty tricky to pull off. I need Professor Garbin's help with all of the charm work, but I don't think he'll agree to help if he knows that you're involved with the project."

"So… You don't want me to help out after all?"

"Oh, no! Of course I want your help! It's just that I need you to work in secret. Don't advertise it, you know? Is that okay with you?"

"I guess so. I mean, I've been working with the brooms on Sundays lately, plus Quidditch is coming up soon. I'll do what I can, but if I can't work on the party a lot, I wouldn't want to take credit where I don't deserve it." Lydia nodded, still looking somewhat confused. "It's all right with me, Lydia. If anyone asks, I'll tell them I was too busy to work on the party and that you had asked other people."

"Thank you, Cari!" Lydia exclaimed, giving her a quick hug. "I've got to go for Astronomy now, but I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight," Cari called, feeling numb when her apartment-mates left. What she had said to Lydia hadn't been a lie; she really was going to be busy for the next month or two, and when the Quidditch season started, things would become even more hectic. She didn't have time to help with the Halloween party, so why did it bother her so much that Lydia wanted to say she wasn't involved? Since an answer didn't float out of the darkness, Cari shrugged it off as best she could and went to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note \- Poor Cari... At least she's learning to stand up for herself, right? That's a useful skill. Hope you all enjoyed this (kind of slow) chapter and please leave me a review if you feel so inclined. They mean so much to me, you know? Anyway, have a great day and I'll see you on Monday!


	40. Halloween: Year Three

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related properties, character, franchises, or rights. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, and make no money from the writing or publishing of such.

* * *

Halloween – Year 3

If she had to keep watching Lydia flit around, putting together last-minute details for the Halloween party, Cari was going to be sick. The third-year party planner had been working on setting up the festivities for the whole month, but over the past week, she had been completely frantic. She had woken Cari up that morning at 4:06 and there hadn't been any chance of getting more sleep. As members of the Student Planning Party, their little group of third-years had been excused from their Friday classes and sent to work on the party area being built in the cafeteria.

Lydia had insisted that the group should have the whole day to set up the area, so breakfast and lunch that day had been served outside. Far from being considered an inconvenience, this just gave the party an irresistible air of mystery. Students had been trying to 'accidentally' burst into the room all day, and eventually, Lydia had gotten permission from Professor Fleet to spell the doors so they wouldn't open from the outside. That cut down on interruptions, but there were several reports of students standing outside, trying a variety of charms to see through the walls, all for a single peek at the party. "Of course," Fleet had assured them, "None of them have even come close to a look at this place."

The Halloween party was slated to begin at six o'clock, but it took until five fifty-seven for Lydia to arrange everything to her satisfaction, though she still wished loudly that she had just one more hour to work. On the other side of the cafeteria, strategically avoiding Lydia's attention, everyone else stood back and studied the room.

The large space had been divided into two nearly-equal parts. The half closer to the fireplace and outer entrance boasted a collection of small, round tables, each seating six. The tables would provide diners with a variety of foods, all vaguely monster-themed, and clear automatically once the students left to make way for a new group. Cari's favorite part of being on the Student Planning Party had been testing the tables. The Echowick cooks were truly talented beings!

However wonderful the food was, the real focal point of the room was the large, three-story haunted house taking up the majority of the room's other half. Made of rough wooden slats, the house's exterior was coated with a faded and peeling layer of white paint. The rusty red door hanging from its hinges at an uneasy angle stood out like a streak of dried blood amidst all of the white. Each of the small, oddly-placed windows was chipped or broken, and the shattered panes revealed stringy, yellowing curtains blowing back in a nonexistent breeze. The interior of the house wasn't much better. Everything was caked in a carefully-applied layer of false dust, but other than that, no two rooms looked the same.

Students who chose to brave the house would enter and wind their way through an assortment of rooms on their way to the third floor, where a large slide would carry them to the cafeteria's ground level once more, though at an angle Cari found to be vaguely terrifying. Their path back out to the front of the house was guided by a rough-looking wooden slat fence draped sparingly with caution tape and fake spiderwebs. At least, the spiderwebs had been fake when she and Lydia had placed them there. Professor Garbin had come to place the charm for later on in the evening and had also used a disconcerting spell on the cotton strands, turning them into something uncomfortably close to the texture of a real web. It made Cari shiver to even think about it.

As the rest of the students were sitting back and admiring their handiwork, Lydia had begun to tug at the tablecloths and re-center the jack o'lanterns sitting on raised pedestals in the middle of each table. "Lydia!" Cari hissed. When her roommate swiveled to look at her, Cari pointed at her watch. "It's six o'clock. This is as good as it's going to get."

Pouting slightly and looking like she was going to disagree, Lydia strode over to join the rest of the group. However, before she could really get a protest out, there was a blaze of green fire in the fireplace as Professor Fleet stepped out. "I apologize for startling you students," she explained. "But there's such a crowd gathered in front of each entrance that it would have taken me far too long to get through. Are we ready?"

Lydia took a deep breath. "I believe so."

Fleet smiled encouragingly. "It looks wonderful, Miss Abrams. I'm sure everyone will be very impressed. Now, if you will kindly remind me of what I am to say..?"

While Lydia was muttering random snippets of information to the nodding Professor Fleet, the rest of the Student Planning Party positioned themselves by each door, ready to let the students in when they were told. The order came only a minute or so later and the makeshift doormen were soon pushed aside by the stampeding mass of students.

Even with the large size of the cafeteria, the students were forced to stand between tables and gathered around the front of the haunted house in order to hear Professor Fleet's introduction. "Students, I wish you a happy Halloween! We have put together a celebration for your enjoyment. Now, with so many of you interested students, we must impose an order of sorts. You may feel free to eat dinner whenever you wish, but at nine o'clock, the first- and second-year students must return to their dorms. Please be courteous to them when it comes to entering the haunted house or finding a table, though there should be ample time for everyone to do both before the first curfew.

"As for everyone in third-year and up, the haunted house will grow more intense as the night goes on. Third-years must return to their dorms at ten o'clock, fourth- and fifth-years at eleven, and sixth- and seventh-years by midnight. Please do not feel that you must participate in the highest level of haunted house intensity simply because you are an older student. Above everything else, tonight is meant for you to enjoy yourselves." With that, Professor Fleet made a gesture that clearly meant for everyone to move about the room.

Cari and the rest of the third-year Student Planning Party rushed around the back of the house to get in their positions. Lydia had made it clear that, no matter the age of the student group coming through, six to nine o'clock were to be strictly jump scares, nothing menacing. In fact, the entire cafeteria had a fun, party-type atmosphere for those three hours. Loud music pumped through the room, multicolored lights flashed on every surface, and the haunted house was filled with theatrical screams and laughter. Dancing broke out on one side of the room and between groups, Cari laughed at her view of their moves to 'Ghostbusters'. She was near a broken window, so she listened in as students raved about the food, vowing to return for seconds. Most of the younger students walked around lamenting their curfew, seeming to take the milder house as a direct insult to their bravery, though some jumped hard enough to worry Cari when they walked through.

Cari's little room was decorated as if it were an armory in medieval times. The walls were made of heavy stone, as was the floor, and a single flickering torch in a wall sconce was the only source of light. The window was tall and narrow, filled with stained glass panes held in place with metal strips. Most of the glass had been broken out, but the metal strips still traced the open space in the frame. Three of the walls were taken up with a collection of swords, axes, and pikes, all sharpened to wicked-looking points. The final wall of the room boasted the exit door and a small fireplace. A few swords had been placed with their tips in the flames, throwing the smell of heated metal into the stiflingly-hot air. Directly across from the entrance, a pedal-operated whetstone stood.

Of course, all of this was just for show. The weapons were cardboard, charmed to hold a shine and keep their shape if knocked down or struck. The flames in the fireplace were illusions, and the metal smell came from a bottle of spray Cari had tucked away in a corner. The heat was unfortunately real, but Cari had threatened to leave her room if Lydia didn't let her have some way to cool off, hence the broken window. When she wasn't actively working with a group, Cari stood by the window, fanning herself while trying to look menacing in case someone was glancing up and saw her. Fortunately, she didn't have to interact with the contents of the room until later, so there was plenty of time to move around or stand by the doors. It hadn't taken long to discover that the next room was something themed with cold and damp, so Cari spent much of her time on that side of the room.

Cari almost hated to give Lydia credit after the girl had been such a pain over the last few days, but she really did know how to plan a party. The first- and second-year students were able to participate and have fun without being left out of the scarier parts of the celebration. Just as Cari started to see a number of younger students yawning or looking like they might fall asleep, Professor Fleet's magically-magnified voice rang through the cafeteria.

"Attention, all first- and second-year students: It is now nine o'clock. Please return to your dorms immediately. Your Wing Leaders will be watching – as will I – to be sure that everyone reaches their room safely and promptly. Thank you for joining us and have a Happy Halloween!"

Giving a small wince for Asher's sake – Cari certainly wouldn't want to be stuck babysitting a bunch of younger students when there was a party going on – she readied her room in the house for 'stage two' of the night.

Outside of the haunted house, the atmosphere changed almost imperceptibly. The music turned from bass-filled party jams to heavier, darker tunes. The bouncing, colorful light changed to harsh white beams illuminating the haunted house from the base. The effect was a building that looked far more menacing, rising starkly up into the darkness of the room. A slight chill entered the air and the jack o'lanterns looked more creepy than funny. There was no more dancing in the corner of the cafeteria, and the line for the house grew longer than ever.

As she waited for students to walk through, Cari donned a long, dark cloak with a hood. Her instructions were very clear: she was to stand with her back to the door as she sharpened a couple of the wicked-looking axes on the large, free-standing whetstone. When the students were gathered in the room and stood looking at her, she was to turn, looking over her shoulder, and point toward the door to the next room. If anyone in the group looked back at her on the way out, they would see her staring after them, gripping an axe and raising it menacingly.

The hooded cloak was charmed for coolness and smelled unexpectedly nice, both of which were good, since everyone working in the house had to wear theirs for the rest of the night. Whereas over the last three hours, Cari could chat or joke freely with groups walking through her room after she scared them, these cloaks were charmed to let out a wild, high-pitched giggle if someone tried to talk with her. Cari quickly found out two things: One, that a large number of people use humor to make themselves more comfortable when they're frightened, and two, that the cloaks worked extremely well to discourage any conversation.

In what seemed like minutes, it was ten o'clock and Professor Fleet made an announcement to the third-years as she had the first- and second-years only an hour before. Cari's classmates trooped out of the room and – as Shadow had put it hours ago – the real fun began.

Moments after the last third-year left, the entire cafeteria grew even darker. The only light came from the haunted house, though rather than the white under-lighting, the white beams now would cross the building back and forth once every few seconds, similar to a searchlight pattern. What's more, Garbin had charmed the edifice of the building so that it would change between beams. One beam would cross it and the front of the house would be plain. The next time it was illuminated, there would be jagged letters across the porch spelling out 'beware'. The time after that would show a fresh grave in the front yard, though that was charmed to be the rarest of the changes. Cari's personal favorite was a pattern built into the chipped paint in such a way that the house looked like a skull.

Along with this latest lighting change, the music had turned to soft, eerie-sounding piano solos with an occasional organ song to keep it from getting monotonous. The room was still warmer than the chill of Echowick in October, but it was growing steadily less comfortable, especially with the slight breeze blowing from nowhere. Students were more cautious now, peeking up at the house and studying the windows as though they would be able to see what was in store.

In Cari's room, her role had changed slightly. She was still sharpening axes, but now she was working with the complexly-charmed ones, spelled to throw a shower of real-looking sparks as they were held against the whetstone. With the placement of the whetstone in the room, the sparks fell directly in front of the exit door, which Cari pointed out silently to the groups walking through. She then would return to sharpening, forcing the students to brave the pinpoints of flame on their way through the house.

Not as many people attempted conversation with Cari this time around, but then, everyone's intensity was supposed to have increased. For the first time that night, the haunted house was filled with real screams and she briefly wondered what everyone else was doing to scare people so badly… especially ones who were in their fifth year or older.

The question remained sadly unanswered as Fleet made her eleven o'clock announcement. With the exit of the last fifth-year student, the area went through its final changes. The music dwindled down into silence while the lights faded out completely, plunging the room into darkness. From the depths of the utterly-noiseless cafeteria came groans and snarls, growing steadily louder as the seconds crept past. Cari didn't watch horror movies, but it was clear even to her that a horde of zombies was slowly making their way across the grounds, ready to attack the group gathered in the main building. At least, that was the impression Lydia had wanted to give off, and Cari had to admit that her roommate had nailed it.

Sure enough, a group of students gathered around one of the enchanted windows that didn't truly look out onto the school grounds. Even from her far-aloft vantage point, Cari could tell that there was a severe storm going on 'outside'. Gasping and shrieking, some students pointed out the horde of zombies slowly approaching over the storm-ravaged landscape.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the lights came back up, but only black lights. They shone on the front of the haunted house, picking up odd touches that hadn't been visible when the room was brighter. In bright, black-light paint, a newspaper article declared the brutal murder of six people in the house. After a time, the writing changed to confessions of people who had decided to brave the house and its haunting occupants. This was Cari's least favorite part of the night.

She loved Halloween, she truly did, but the idea of people stuck living in one place, tied to creating misery, was completely repellent. Bringing the theme of murder and 'real haunted house' felt like a step in the wrong direction. Of course, none of the other students had agreed with her opinion and she was stuck going along with them on their decision.

Cari had to admit, however, that the final hour of the evening was fun, especially when she happened to know the person who walked into the room. One such person was Khan. Khan had grown intolerably cocky over the past few years, and now, as the sixth-year Physical Wing Quidditch Captain, he was completely unbearable. As if trying to prove her silent opinion, Khan scoffed loudly as he stepped into her dungeon-type room.

"Seriously? What a lame haunted house. This room was exactly the same an hour ago. Obviously, they didn't take into account how difficult it is to scare people who are older than thirteen. This is such a waste of time."

It made Cari angry to think of someone bashing Lydia's party after she had put so much effort into the planning. And so, it was with obvious pleasure that she pulled the axe from the whetstone, cutting off the waterfall of sparks, and in one motion, turned to Khan and his group and hurled the axe at them as forcefully as she could. The axe in question was, of course, a piece of Transfigured cardboard. It wouldn't have hurt any of the students even if it hit them directly in the head. In fact, part of the spell that had been placed on all of the weapons was to make it act as a non-solid object if it came into contact with a human being.

With all of this in mind, it was still much more impressive when Cari timed it correctly and launched the axe across the room to embed in the rock wall next to the door. There, it made an impressive noise and the handle even wobbled back and forth slightly, emphasizing the brush the students had just had with death. This one happened to be a perfect throw, and Khan turned deathly pale. His mouth opened a few times without sound escaping before he managed to stammer out, "Go, go, go! Get to that door!" Cari lifted another axe menacingly. The sixth-year cried, "No!" before pushing the pretty girls in his group aside to rush through the door across the room. No one else moved until Cari heaved another axe at them, coming far closer. They fairly sprinted to the door after that.

Cari couldn't suppress a small chuckle as she retrieved the axes from where they had dug deeply into the walls. All of the rooms were supposed to be 4-D like this one was, but she was a little sad that her room wasn't further along in the house. Professor Garbin, as much as she truly did not like the man, had truly come through for the party and cast a wonderfully-complex charm on all of the robes. The further a group ventured into the house, the more translucent the hooded figures would appear to be. Eventually, in the final room, students were left looking down at the slide, but received a final scare before they descended, whether it was going to be a scream, someone grabbing them unseen, or a violent – but controlled – push down the slide in front of them. The slide, incidentally, had been charmed for the last bracket to look as though it had broken off nearly fifteen feet in the air. Cari had heard more than one scream echo back from the slide area during the period from eleven to midnight.

Finally, midnight came and Fleet made her final announcement, thanking the sixth- and seventh-years for joining them and wishing them a Happy Halloween. When the cafeteria had emptied of everyone who had been at the party for fun, the normal fluorescent lights were switched back on and the windows were switched back to the _Echowick Forests_ setting. While Fleet was doing this, the Student Planning Party was discussing the best ways to break everything down.

While everyone was debating and talking about their experiences during the night, Cari stood back and yawned hard enough to crack her jaw. Much as she hated and complained about curfews every other night, she had to admit that nothing sounded quite as good as her bed did in that moment. She wasn't the only one with bleary eyes, either.

In the end, Fleet took care of the haunted house, first asking if anyone needed to retrieve anything from inside. When they replied in the negative, she used _finite incantatum_ to cancel all of the spells on everything, reducing the haunted house to a rickety stack of reinforced pallets and cardboard pieces of various sizes. She soon Banished all of this outside, where, as she explained, the Construction classes could feel free to pick through everything.

At the same time, the Student Planning Party was taking care of the other end of the room. There were leftovers to dispose of, trash to take out, plenty of crumbs and trash to sweep up, and the round tables had to be stored back in a special room built into the side of the cafeteria. It was a large job, but they thankfully had plenty of people in the group. As they worker, Professor Fleet came over to talk when she had taken care of dissembling the haunted house.

"Of course, it is too soon for me to know anything for certain," she was telling Lydia, "but I would say that tonight was an incredible success. If I'm being completely honest, Miss Hale, I never thought you would pull this off, but you exceeded even my wildest expectations."

"Thank you, Headmistress," Lydia said, eyes sparkling with gratitude and excitement. "Do you think the students liked it?"

Fleet laughed. "Students will be talking about this party for years to come. They had fun and I suspect that several of the professors did, as well. In fact, I know for sure that Professors Tallet and Kreer enjoyed watching the reactions of students. Placing them by the end of the exit slide was another stroke of pure genius."

For the first time in Cari's recent memory, Lydia blushed. "Thank you, Headmistress. It was an honor to be asked to plan such a big event."

"Should another party be planned in the future, I will come to you first," Professor Fleet promised. "And I will do my best to ensure that you have more than just one month for planning." She smiled encouragingly at Lydia. "Expect my request for next year's Halloween party by Christmas vacation."

"Gladly, Professor Fleet," Lydia said with a laugh before Cari could drag her off to help with the cleaning.

* * *

Author's Note \- Seems like Lydia gets more ambitious every year... good thing she has her friends there to help out! Hopefully, the party wasn't too confusing as written, but I couldn't think of a way to make it easier on the eyes and brain. In any case, thanks for reading! I want to give a big shout-out to ghostcrab311, whose review made me simultaneously want to punch the air in victory and cry happy tears. Your feedback means so much!

On a side note, I want to thank Ashes-To-Diamonds for all of the support. You definitely help me get things done, and your willingness to jump in and lend a hand or be a sympathetic ear means more to me than you'll ever know. I know you won't read this chapter for a while still, but when you get to this point, it'll be here. Thank you!

And that's that! Have a wonderful day, you guys. See you Thursday!


	41. Fall

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials of any kind. I am making no money from this story and I only own the original elements of it.

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Fall

Cleanup for the Halloween party had taken until nearly two o'clock in the morning. Finally, only yawns breaking their silence, everyone had scattered to their beds. By the time Cari and Lydia woke up on Saturday morning, it was lunchtime. With a slightly-evil grin, Lydia knocked loudly on Shadow and Eric's door before they hustled off to the cafeteria.

It seemed strange to walk into the room and see it set back to normal after the transformation that had taken place during the day before. There wasn't much time to dwell on it, though. Cari suddenly realized how hungry she really was. None of the group was at the table yet, but Cari and Lydia sat down uncaringly and dug into plates piled with food.

Eventually, their friends joined them, moving in small groups or one by one. Once everyone had eaten a good bit of their food, the conversation began, inevitably turning toward what had happened during the previous night. Far from feeling as though they had done Lydia a favor by participating in the party, most of the students instead raved about how much fun it had been to work in the haunted house. Scaring upperclassmen seemed to be a big reason for the draw.

Eric spoke at length about his time spent firing arrows – eventually arrows set on fire – at people while Chayton vividly described the best way he had figured out to scare people through the thick fog in his forest-type room. Tessa had frighteningly laughed about how scared groups got when she chopped off the leg of a medical dummy charmed to bleed and Lionel bragged about his experiences playing a respected gladiator with the incoming groups as his chief opponents. "I thought one of the seventh-years was going to wet his pants when the lion came bounding out!"

Cari leaned over to Lydia with a smile. "I bet you love hearing all of these stories, huh?"

"Hmm?" she asked, a distant look on her face.

"Aren't you listening? Everyone's talking about how much fun they had scaring people last night. I would have figured you would be soaking this up."

"No, actually. Everyone be quiet for a minute!" Lydia ordered sharply. Everyone fell silent to stare at her. She pointed around the room as she said softly, "You guys need to hear this."

With the large group of third-years oddly silent, they could clearly hear students talking at the other end of the table as well as students sitting several tables away. The only topic of the conversations they heard was the Halloween party of the night before. First-years told funny stories about the rooms and wished that they could only have stayed around a little bit longer. On the other side of the room, seventh-years were swapping tales about what the third-years had put them through, completely impressed by the complicated charms that must have been used for the rooms to be so realistic.

Cari glanced around the table, loving the smiles growing on the faces of all her friends. They had been happy before, but hearing the reviews of other students who didn't know them personally had given the group a sense of pride. She met Lydia's eyes and they grinned at each other.

The rest of Saturday was spent leisurely enjoying not working. After a quick stop at Greenhouse 2 to water their plants, the third-years retreated to one of the student lounges to play Exploding Snap while the television droned on in the background. Cari lounged on one of the couches, drifting in and out of sleep as she watched the game. She did manage to wake up just before Eric blew his eyebrows off. It was close to the perfect day.

Sunday, however, was far more intense. Cari reported to the Quidditch Pitch bright and early, shivering from the cold. She was out there with Professor Gregory for most of the day, working on going over the rules of the game, where on a pitch would provide the best vantage point for refereeing, and certain things she might have missed during the year before. It was a day filled with more learning than Cari had expected, especially since she had previously felt she had everything down pat. Apparently, this was far from the truth.

At the end of their work, Professor Gregory and Cari brought the brooms from the shed down to Building 7. He explained that they would most likely have to do a full diagnostic and cleaning process on them again. The summer heat wasn't good for them, and they needed to be checked before they were used for something as strenuous as a legitimate match, as he put it. Cari knew it needed to be done, but she still resented the time it would pull from her actual Broomsmith work.

Cari had moved on from carving runes on a small chunk of handle. Instead, Professor Gregory had given her a full-sized broomstick, instructing her that the runes would have to be charmed with more intensity due to the added surface area. After ensuring that she would have the chance to work on more than one full-length broomstick, Cari had started plotting out her carvings, but between the Halloween party and the upcoming broom inspections and repairs, she hadn't had much time to work on it. It didn't help that Professor Fleet had ruled that a full-length broomstick was too distracting to be carried around and worked on throughout the school day.

Wednesday passed quickly as Professor Gregory and his three students worked a steady path through the brooms that needed to be checked. She did learn something new, however. One broom's handle had a large crack running all the way down. Professor Gregory pointed it out to the students, explaining, "Sometimes, when wood ages, it can experience a form of dry rot, and it makes the grain of the wood pull apart in this way. If this happens, oil the area well, make sure there isn't anything between the two sides, and use the incantation i _ugo_." After the small speech, the Professor lined his wand up with the gash, made a motion like he was using a hammer, and said firmly, " _I_ _ugo_." As the students watched, the two sides of the gap moved together at an almost unbearably slow speed, eventually leaving a smooth handle. Cari couldn't tell that it had ever been anything less than perfect.

When they were dismissed, only a few brooms were left to check. They only needed about two hours on Friday, and were soon finished to the Professor's specifications. As Cari completed the cleaning on her last broom, she held it on her lap, rolling it over to study the runes and their placement. Her last piece of broom handle had been more successful than either of the ones before it, but Cari still wasn't satisfied.

While she tested the depth with a fingernail, Cari brought up a point that she had wondered about often over the past year and a half. "I'm surprised you guys agree to talk to me at all." Asher and Ransom looked over at her, and even in her periphery, they looked confused. "I mean, before I came along with the whole referee thing, you didn't have to worry about the cleaning or upkeep of the brooms. It must have been a lot easier."

Asher shrugged. "It's not a lot of extra work, especially since I'm at a year where I have Broomsmith classes for most of the week. If I didn't have the school brooms to work on, I think I would be bored out of my mind. The projects really don't take that long to complete and I like the break."

"Plus," Ransom added, "by all accounts, this is the kind of stuff we're probably going to be stuck doing after Echowick anyway. Might as well have it be second nature by then, right?"

"I guess," Cari said doubtfully. It still seemed like a waste of time to her when there was probably a three-second spell that would tell exactly which brooms were in need of repairs and another spell to polish up the brooms with little time and effort. However, she was rapidly learning that the ways of the wizarding world didn't always make sense.

Saturday morning was the Politics Team vs Arts Team match. Cari steeled herself for the worst since both teams were notorious for cheating, though their reasons differed quite a bit. The Arts Team maintained that they wouldn't be able to compete properly with other, 'rougher' Wings if they didn't even the playing field by cheating. The Politics Team, on the other hand, just liked the idea that they were getting away with something. Cari hated making generalizations like this, especially with all of her friends from the Politics Wing and Chayton from the Arts Wing, but the stereotypes had come from those students in the first place. Both seemed willing – almost proud – to admit their flaws.

In any case, it made for a busy match for Cari. With all of the cheating, making calls was almost too easy. After last year, both Professor Gregory and Cari had been nervous to have the third-year student referee make any calls, even through the senior referee, but Professor Fleet had insisted.

"What good is a referee who is too afraid to make a call? Miss Romana will have to make calls when necessary, even if they are simply pointing out to you what is happening, Professor Gregory. I have a feeling that this year will be slightly less conflict-driven than last year's season."

The Headmistress had left the not-quite explanation at that, leaving Building 7 with a mysterious smile, but her meaning had become clear as soon as the teams stepped out onto the Pitch: Pitt was nowhere to be seen. After a brief conversation with the new Captain, it seemed that Pitt was more of a liability than an asset and would have been turned down if he attempted to try out for the team. He didn't even show up for tryouts, so the situation had been resolved before it had the chance to begin.

Even without the complications from Pitt's involvement with the team, the match was strenuous. Both Wings were cheating and Cari had finally been given leave to make calls on her own, without having to relay what she saw through Professor Gregory.

Cari's first-ever independent call was on an Arts student, Munroe, who she saw cobbing a Beater from the Politics Wing. The poor Beater, a second-year named Jackson, nearly fell off her broom and had just regained her balance when the Bludger she was aiming for circled back and collided with her shoulder. The younger girl cried out as she clutched her arm and Cari couldn't think of a time she had ever moved so quickly to blow a whistle. Magically magnifying her voice, she shouted, "Foul on Munroe for cobbing. Penalty awarded to the Politics Team!"

Canceling the _Sonorus_ , Cari muttered into her shoulder radio, "Professor. Was that okay?"

"Couldn't have done it better myself," her teacher replied, voice staticky but intelligible. "I saw it, too. Don't worry; you did a good job."

With that, Cari's confidence grew. Part of her wished that the players would just stop fouling, but for the most part, Cari loved being able to make calls and have people listen to her. The players started watching her position almost as warily as they did Professor Gregory's, checking to see where she was before attempting something illegal. It felt wonderful!

There was only one downside to the match that day, but it was a big one: Pittrellean Geikas. Though Pitt was no longer on the Politics Team, he still did his part in making things difficult for Cari. Anytime she circled in front of the Politics stands, she was immediately shouted at, pelted with small objects, or spat upon. Cari tried to keep her focus on the match, but it was tough when she had to either fly far above the Politics stands or zoom quickly past them. Eventually, she had to radio Professor Gregory and ask him to watch the match from the Politics side of the pitch while she would fly on the other side. Thankfully, the professor didn't ask any questions and Cari mentally promised to write him a thank-you card or something after the game.

The match finally came to an abrupt end when Munroe, the Arts Team Seeker, caught the Snitch and won the game for his house. The teams landed, shook hands, and left Cari and Professor Gregory to get the brooms back to the broom shed.

With the first Quidditch match of the season over, the attention of the students turned to the upcoming Thanksgiving vacation. Cari's group in particular was interested in whether their holiday tradition was going to be upheld. Cari would be there no matter what anyone else decided, so she didn't want to press the issue, but Lydia told her parents at the beginning of November that she wouldn't be returning home until Christmas.

"They were understandably upset," she assured Cari, who nodded tolerantly. "I mean, they have to go longer without seeing me, but I explained to them that I have a group of friends who need me around. After that, they didn't have a problem with it."

Barely keeping a grip on her serious expression, Cari said, "It's a good thing you know how to deal with them. I don't know what we would do here without you."

Lydia gave Cari a strange look, as though trying to gauge whether or not her roommate was making fun of her, but when Cari kept her face blankly sincere, Lydia just shrugged and continued chatting about the plans she had with her parents for Christmas vacation. To her credit, her preoccupation with getting her parents' attention didn't keep her from staying on top of a situation, especially when planning was involved. At dinner that night, Lydia waited until everyone was sitting down before solidifying everything.

"Is everyone trying to stay this year?" Lydia directed the question at the group as a whole, though she cast a pointed glance at Toby, who blushed, and Lionel, who looked utterly unconcerned. "We just need to know if we can plan for group activities or if it's only going to be Cari and I."

"Well, I was going to stay," Lionel started, "but the whole 'group activities' thing sounds a little sketchy. Maybe I should change my plans."

"And I'm staying, too," Toby added softly, smiling down at Tessa, who butted her head back against his shoulder.

"Yes!" Lydia cheered. "And everyone else is staying here, too?" Hardly able to believe their luck, everyone at the table nodded, faces distinctly surprised or verging on apprehensive.

"So…" Kimber drew out. "We're going to outnumber the rest of the school, huh?"

"Pretty much," Cari pitched in. "During the break in our first year, there were about fifteen people who stayed. Last year, there were a few more, but not many. We won't outnumber them, but we'll definitely be the majority."

The nervous looks faded, replaced with expressions of excitement. "This," Shadow said, nearly bouncing with eagerness in his seat, "is going to be _awesome_!" The rest of the conversation during the meal focused on what they should do with their time at the near-empty school.

Thanksgiving break that year was indeed awesome. Somehow, even fewer students than usual ended up staying at Echowick, which meant that the group of third-years truly did outnumber everyone else. This, in turn, ended up convincing Fleet to relax even more of the rules than she had the previous year, provided everyone promised not to spread too many stories when the rest of the student returned.

Breakfasts were attended in pajamas, music was always playing in the cafeteria, and curfews had been relaxed to the point of being nonexistent. The third-years were almost never seen outside of one of the student lounges, especially since Kimber had decided that everyone who was unfamiliar with Muggle cinema was going to get a crash course. She and Cari outlined a list of 'must-see' movies in less than an hour and made everyone get started right away. Most times, no one was even watching the movie, but the two shrugged at each other and figured that they had done their best.

There was another benefit of having only a fraction of the school there: the group had many members to themselves for what may have been the first time all school year. With no Ransom around, Kimber spent all of her time with the group when they usually didn't see her more than a few days every week. Fletchmeister had Jackie with him, of course, but she had basically been adopted as an official group member now. Chayton and Lionel had no string of besotted girls trailing them, either. It was unexpectedly cozy and intimate, reminding everyone of why they had chosen to spend so much time in the group in the first place. Cari didn't think she had ever smiled so much in her entire life!

Thanksgiving Day, when it finally came, was utterly perfect. Lionel had figured out to hack into a Muggle television channel, and the entire student body of Echowick gathered around a small television set in the cafeteria to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Of course, this had required quite a bit of explanation for the Pure-Bloods and anyone else who had been raised away from Muggle television shows and movies, but it was well worth the experience. Toby in particular had to describe several times with great patience about how the balloons stayed in the air and were kept moving in a line without the use of magic. In the end, most of the non-Muggle knowledgeable just referred to the floats as 'Muggle magic'. No one bothered to correct them.

Once the parade had ended, anyone who was interested was invited up to the Quidditch Pitch for the traditional match between Captain Fleet and Captain Tallet. Everyone was interested, except Toby and Lydia, who elected to be the 'ground crew', though they carefully did not specify what that meant. With Cari acting as the referee, the students were split into two teams of eleven, plus their captains. Not wanting to have anyone feeling left out, Fleet and Tallet improvised a new set of rules. The teams were made up of five Chasers, three Beaters, two Keepers, and two Seekers.

When Cari called an official start to the game, the pitch exploded into glorious, barely-organized chaos. There were no uniforms available for the students, so everyone was left to remember which team they were on and sometimes they forgot. It didn't help that, with this many people playing, Fleet had decided that the official balls could be brought out. Having legitimate Bludgers and a real golden Snitch flying around amidst all the students who had never played Quidditch added a level of danger to the whole affair. None of the students except Shadow and Khan were on Wing Quidditch teams. Since the game was for fun – and because no one wanted them to have an advantage – both players had been told to choose positions they didn't usually play. Shadow chose to be a Beater and Khan elected to be a Seeker rather than their usually mutual position of Chaser.

Students were flying in every direction, trying their best to carry the Quaffle to the hoops on either end of the pitch, but Tallet and Fleet both proved to be adept Keepers and fought the other team to a standstill. Of course, it took forever for one of the fumbling Chasers to carry the Quaffle to the other side, so the Captains/Keepers had plenty of time to prepare to block a goal. No one except the two Captains were any good, but Cari couldn't remember a time when she had seen so many smiling students at once, which made it immediately worth it.

Of course, there were a few bugs, one of them very frightening to Cari. One of the Beaters had been overzealously aiming for a Bludger and almost slipped off his broom in the swing. His bat connected with the Bludger at an angle, and it soon came flying at Cari. She wasn't worried at first. Normally, Bludgers hit in her direction would fly at her before turning sharply when they were several yards away, zooming back into the game. This one, however, continued on its course, aimed straight at Cari's head.

At the last possible second, a bat came between Cari and her Bludger, hitting it away with an expert-sounded _crack!_ that echoed around the stadium. She turned, startled but grateful, and found Shadow hovering next to her, holding the bat slung over his shoulder as he bellowed at the rest of the players.

"Hey, watch where you're aiming the Bludgers! They're not charmed to you, so they'll hit anyone, even our referee!" He winked at Cari before flying off to return to the game.

Movement on the edge of the pitch attracted Cari's attention and she flew around the game to hover slightly above the ground next to Lydia and Toby, each lugging a large canteen. "What is that stuff? When did you guys leave?"

Lydia shrugged, pushing hair off her forehead. "About half an hour ago. Neither of us is really into Quidditch, and since it's freezing out here, we decided to get refreshments." A cheer rang out and Cari turned to find that one of the Seekers had caught the Snitch.

Rocketing back up to the game, Cari pulled out the grubby piece of paper she had been jotting the score on. After a second of mental math - and a silent prayer that no one else had scored while she talked to Lydia and Toby - she shouted, "Win goes to Captain Fleet's team with an ending score of two sixty-five!"

There was a round of uncertain clapping as Fleet grinned victoriously. "Come and get it!" Lydia roared from the ground. Eagerly, the half-frozen players touched down and rushed over to surround the self-appointed ground crew. "We have hot chocolate or hot cider and the kitchen sent us these." Lydia opened a huge box to reveal steaming cinnamon rolls.

The teams dug in, chatting excitedly about the game. "Did you see when I-?" "Yeah, that was really cool! I thought I was going to crash that one time-" "You looked so confident! I think I need to go to the next flight class-"

Gina, the night nurse from the Hospital Building, shouted from a distance, "Kitchen says thirty minutes until dinner is served! Better finish up, because I'm not waiting for you!"

With an appreciative laugh, everyone finished their drinks and pastries, stowed the brooms back in the shed, and helped to carry the canteens back down to the main building before rushing to clean up before the meal.

The food was just as high quality as every other meal Cari had eaten at Echowick, but something about the exercise from flying and the leftover chill made this meal just a tiny bit better. _Of course_ , she thought with amusement, _that could be because of the company._ Eric was enthusiastically attacking his third slice of pumpkin pie while Shadow and Lionel tried to see how much whipped cream they could dab onto Fletchmeister before he noticed. Toby and Tessa were cuddled up on one side of the table, watching as Kimber and Chayton pulled the wishbone while Willa and Jael made bets. Kimber won, and by extension, Willa. Jael groaningly paid up as Chayton flicked his smaller chunk of wishbone over at Lydia, who looked like she was getting ready to fall asleep. Cari smiled. _Definitely the company._

* * *

Author's Note \- Aww, a happy little ending for this chapter! We're at that point again when the year starts flying by. With luck, no one minds. Drop a review if you feel like it, they're very appreciated! Thanks to the lovely guest who reviewed last time! Have an absolutely magical day and I'll see you on Monday!  



	42. Bumps

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or related franchises containing the characters, settings, or situations found therein. The only elements I own in this story are those that are original.

* * *

Bumps

Cari sat at the third-year table in the cafeteria frowning at the book lying open in front of her. Students were spread everywhere in the room, some chatting, some studying, and most snacking on something in an effort to deal with the stress of their upcoming midterms. Cari was one of the few not working on schoolwork, but no one really needed to know that.

December had been going extremely smoothly so far. The Quidditch match, Politics vs. Academics, had a shocking lack of conflict… Besides what was standard, of course. Professor Gregory had even taught Cari what he called 'The Referee's Charm'. When placed on the special referee's robes, the charm would deflect anything thrown by a heckler and propel it back at said heckler. After the fourth time Pitt had been hit in the face with his own spit, he had finally gotten the point and settled down, making Cari's job just that much easier. Her classes hadn't been going as well as they should have been, but Cari found herself preoccupied with one major problem. If only she could figure out some kind of loophole to get what she needed…

"Hey, what's with the face?" Shadow asked, settling down beside her.

Turning to glare at him, Cari gestured down at the book, a cutaway illustration of a wand's core taking up much of the space on the open pages. "This! This is the problem. You brought me some rougarou hair, but not much of it." She held up a hand, halting Shadow's defensive explanation. "I don't blame you. I didn't know how much I was going to need. But lately, I've been studying the way wands are put together, and apparently the core material has to be present all the way through or the magic is unable to be carried from the user through the tip of the wand."

Shadow already looked lost. "But I thought wands are magic."

"Not exactly," Cari explained. "They use magical materials and have some pretty heavy charms embedded in them, but they really just transmit magic. You are magic, the wand just lets you focus it in different ways." He still looked confused, so Cari tried a different tactic. "You know a little about Muggle electricity, right? Well, the copper wire inside a cord isn't electric; it just carries electricity between two points."

He shook his head, blond hair swinging into his eyes as he grinned at her. "I don't get it, but thanks for trying. In the simplest terms you can think of, what exactly is the problem?"

Cari sighed, flipping the book closed to expose her own cutaway drawing of the hypothetical broom handle. "You see, for this broom to really work like your wand does, the rougarou hair needs to stretch all the way down the handle. Right now, we only have enough hair to get to here," she made a mark on the drawing.

Shadow leaned closer to examine the drawing, which put him much closer to Cari than usual. As he read through all of her little side notes, she took a deep breath. _He smells so nice. And his hair looks so thick and soft. I wonder if it really is that soft?_

"Cari?"

"Yeah?" The third-year shook herself slightly, focusing on Shadow's bright blue gaze aimed in her direction. "Sorry, did you say something?"

To his credit, Shadow didn't mock her momentary lapse, though a grin did play around his lips as he spoke. "I asked if there was anywhere else you could get some more rougarou hair. Do you think there would be any in the Broomsmith workshop?"

Annoyed with herself, Cari's answer came out a little more pointed than she had intended. "No, there wouldn't be. Remember, we're the first ones to try to do anything like this. The only people who have rougarou hair would be wand-makers, and they aren't likely to just let a random person have some of it, especially a student. If I'm going to get some of it, I'll have to go through some of the students with less-than-stellar reputations."

"Like Iagan Kelly?" Shadow asked, previously-laughing eyes suddenly sharp and deadly serious.

"No, not Iagan," Cari replied. "He's still holding a grudge from what happened during my investigation last year. I think it would be best if I avoid him whenever possible." She sighed. "But if no one else can get rougarou hair for me, our only choices are going to be asking Iagan or waiting until next year if you want to try to get some over the summer."

"No!" Shadow burst out. Cari blinked at him, taken aback. Shadow straightened, pulling away from her slightly. It seemed counterintuitive to say she missed his warmth in a room with a blazing fire, but Cari swore that the lack of his heat was noticeable. Shadow ran a hand through his hair, smiling ruefully down at her. "Any chance you could pretend I said that coolly like a normal person?"

Cari stared at him for a moment. "No." Shadow's face fell and she continued. "But I will promise that whatever you tell me about this will stay with me. No one else will know."

Shadow studied her carefully and sighed. "I suppose you're going to find out sooner or later. I haven't told anyone else yet, though, so you'll have to keep this to yourself." He paused and Cari nodded eagerly, encouraging him to continue. "I'm really good at Quidditch."

Fighting not to roll her eyes, Cari nodded. "I know, Shadow. I've heard how good you are at least once a week since your first Quidditch game. Mostly from you."

He grinned unrepentantly. "Yeah, well, I am really good." His expression grew serious once more. "The only problem is that my dad doesn't like Echowick's Quidditch program. Actually, they hardly have a Quidditch program. I love architecture, and there's a solid career in it, but I'm good enough at Quidditch to maybe go professional someday. But if that's something I really want to try for, I can't stay at Echowick. Only one or two teams send scouts here, and those teams aren't really ones anyone wants to play for. I mean, you can get scouted by those teams and maybe work your way onto a better team eventually, but that's a long climb. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Cari squinted. "Maybe? I mean, I get what you mean about being scouted and all of that, but I don't see what your main point is."

Shadow shrugged helplessly. "My main point is that my father thinks I would do better in a different school, ones with Quidditch programs important enough for professional teams to scout seriously. The thing is that I need to transfer to those schools sooner rather than later, and that means that I might not be here next year."

Speaking through a mouth that had gone dry, Cari asked, "What schools are you looking at transferring to?"

"I don't know that we've picked any in particular yet, but most of the good Quidditch teams are located in Europe, so he really wants me to go to one of the European schools. There's one in France and one in the UK, but the UK school is having some issues with student safety, but I also don't speak French…" Shadow buried his face in his hands, cutting his own rant short. "I just don't know, Cari. I don't want to leave Echowick and all of you guys, but my dad is really convincing. If I want a future in Quidditch, I'm probably going to have to leave."

After a moment, he twisted his head to the side and smiled up at Cari. "Sorry to unload all of that on you. It's still a long time away. No point in worrying about it before we have to, right? Anyway, the point in telling you all of that was to say that your broom will have to be done this year if I'm going to be the one who tests it. And I really want to be the one who tests it. Let me know if you figure anything out about getting the rougarou hair. If I have to, I'll have a talk with Iagan."

It made Cari smile to think of how the rapidly growing Shadow would compare against the thin and wiry fourth-year, but Iagan was still an intimidating foe. She shook her head, "I'm sure I can find someone else to get what we need. After I have all of the materials, it should be pretty easy to finish up the rest of the broom. It'll definitely done before you- Before the end of the year."

With a smile and pat on the shoulder, Shadow left Cari to continue working on her sketch, making notations and editing the information written in the margins. Finally, with only an hour left before dinner, she carefully closed the papers in the Wandsmith book, tucked it into her bag, and pulled out the textbooks she actually needed to be studying.

Unfortunately, studying continued to fall by the wayside over the following week as Cari desperately sought out every shady-looking student who she heard could get rougarou hair. Without fail, every one of them turned her down. "Rougarou hair?" she heard more than once. "That's almost impossible to get ahold of unless you are a certified Wandsmith. Now, if you want some fairy dust or a Mind-Sharpening Potion, I can get you some in time for midterms…"

The worst part, however, was what came when she turned down the offers of the wizarding world's drugs. "Well, the only person I know who could possibly get you rougarou hair would be Iagan Kelly. His prices are steep, but he's good for it." Cari had walked away from more of these conversations than she cared to admit, but there were only a finite number of people she could ask. The last thing she needed was to have rumors floating around Echowick about how the Mongrel girl needed rougarou hair. There would be an investigation before she would be able to begin thinking of an explanation.

So, Cari walked around the school, knowing what she would have to do, but dreading it with every fiber of her being. Her dark mood was an almost laughable contrast to the lighthearted atmosphere of Echowick at Christmastime. Either last year's Geikas bribe had been ridiculously large, or the school had decided to add Christmas decorations to its budget. It seemed that, every time Cari turned a corner, there were new strands of tinsel running along a handrail, or lights glittering along the eaves. Music blasted from unexpected locations throughout the day; some was instrumental, others were Christmas classics, and still others were rock covers of those classics. Between the stress of studying for midterms and trying to find someone with connections other than Iagan, all of the decorations gave Cari a headache rather than a shot of Christmas spirit.

The last weekend before midterms, things slammed into emergency mode. Friday night, Cari was awake until a truly ridiculous time cramming as much studying as she could into a few hours. Cari was also fairly sure that, by the end of the semester, Lydia was going to curse her into a wall for the lights she had to keep on so she could see her books. After the fifth time Lydia flipped over and sighed exaggeratedly, Cari closed her books, shut off the light, and caught a few hours of sleep.

Early the next morning, puffy-eyed and groggy, she walked up to the Quidditch pitch and began doing the pre-match checks with Professor Gregory for the Arts vs Physical match. When he had to repeat something three times before she understood what he was talking about, the professor sent her off to do the verbal checks with the teams as he finished up.

Cari started off with the Arts Team, pondering as she went that she really had no idea who the current Captains were. With a knock on the Arts locker room door, the mystery was solved. Seventh-year Amethyst Fletcher pulled the door open, standing in the space. "Yes?"

Stumbling a few times, Cari managed to remember the proper way to ask if the team was ready, and when the tall, African-American girl answered in the affirmative, Cari said, "Please be prepared to make your way out onto the pitch in approximately ten minutes."

Before she closed the door, Amethyst leaned out and peered at Cari. "You okay, kid? You look like you're about to keel over."

Cari nodded, stifling a yawn as she did so. "Yeah, I'm fine. Midterms are just kicking my butt. Thanks for asking." Still looking slightly concerned, Amethyst closed the door again as Cari walked across the pitch to the Physical locker room.

After a quick knock, the door opened and Cari found herself looking up at Khan. She glanced around at the other players before searching Khan's robes for the Captain patch, sewn on the chest of his robes. Still disbelieving, she looked back up at Khan's smiling face and asked, "You're the new Physical Team Captain?"

"I know, right?" Khan moved slightly and Cari could see Asher's disapproving face. "We all know it should be me."

"Shut up, _Wing Leader_ ," Khan scoffed and Asher laughingly gave him the finger, which Khan returned with zest.

Shaking her head, Cari forgot her official words and bluntly asked, "Are you guys ready to play?"

"Yeah, we're ready," Khan answered. "Be out in ten."

"Okay, thanks," Cari said as she walked away. _Good thing no one was here to witness that. I think it broke about twenty formality rules just now, and they're my Wing team…_

Nearly ten minutes later, both teams marched onto the pitch and kicked off shortly afterward. It was a fairly clean game, especially considering that the Arts team was involved. Cari didn't make a single call during the game, although that had less to do with the morals of the players and more to do with how tired she was. When she was able to make herself focus, Cari found herself only able to concentrate on Shadow, feeling like she had been kicked in the stomach every time she thought about him leaving Echowick for a European school.

Needless to say, it wasn't a very productive game. When Cari touched down after a close win for the Arts team, she expected Professor Gregory to be disappointed in her poor performance, maybe even angry. However, he patted her shoulder consolingly during one of the trips taking the brooms back to the broom shed. "I know it's tough, making calls, and you expect to get better every time. But you have to remember that this game didn't have a lot of calls in the first place, and with your mind on the midterms, I'm not surprised that you were distracted. Don't be too hard on yourself. Take the day off tomorrow, focus on studying, and I'll see you Wednesday, all right?"

Professor Gregory's assurances, well-meaning as they were, merely made Cari feel worse about her lack of concentration during the game. "I'm really sorry, Professor. I promise I will do better during the next match."

He waved her off and locked the door to the broom shed. "At least you know you'll definitely beat Asher and Ransom for the best grade in the Broomsmith program!"

Cari returned his encouraging smile and walked back to the main campus, feeling almost sick with stress and disappointment in herself. She began studying immediately after taking a shower and even talked Lydia into bringing her food from the cafeteria so she didn't have to leave the apartment. By the time Cari finally went to bed that night, she had only made it through half of her subjects and the sun was beginning to rise. She set an alarm and rose late Sunday morning to pick back up where she had left off earlier.

"Okay, what is with you?" Lydia burst out in the late afternoon when she came back to the room and found Cari studying Potions fervently. When Cari finally looked over, Lydia set her hands on her hips. "You've done nothing but stare at textbooks for the last week and a half, so why are you studying so hard now? You always get the best grades of anyone, except maybe Toby."

Cari shrugged, searching for alternate explanations. Lydia could keep a secret better than she had been able to in their first couple of years at Echowick, but Cari still couldn't trust her with something this important. "All of the classes are so intense this year! I just want to have a good handle on everything in time for midterms, especially since we're supposed to pick up the pace in the second semester. I just have a lot of ground to cover."

Lydia still didn't look convinced, so Cari turned back to her Potions textbook. She truly didn't have time to debate her study habits with Lydia, and time was running out. Midterms began the next day. Lydia huffed at being ignored, and Cari braced herself for what would inevitably come next. "Fine, but don't expect me to bring you any more food. If you're hungry, you'll just have to leave your hermit cave and interact with human beings at the dinner table."

She stomped out of the room. Cari shook her head at the drama and continued studying, but after a few hours passed, her stomach began to grumble loudly. When she checked the clock, it was indeed dinner time. _Maybe I can ignore it and just wait until tomorrow morning to eat?_ Her stomach let out a noise that sounded half-whine, half-demonic possession screech. Cari glanced down to make sure an alien wasn't about to burst out, then sighed, marked her spot in the book, and strode quickly to the cafeteria. _The faster I can eat, the more time I'll have to study._

As it turned out, eating quickly was difficult as it seemed that all of her friends suddenly had something incredibly important to tell her. None of the news items were actually vital, but the meal still took up far more time than Cari had hoped it would. Throughout all of the conversations, Cari's attention was divided between whoever was currently talking and the boy at the fourth-year table who kept smiling in her direction.

Finally Lionel, sitting across from Cari, twisted in his seat and caught Iagan's superior smirk. For the first time since Cari had seen the older boy start making the gleeful expression, the smile faltered. Iagan quickly dropped his gaze to his own plate and Lionel turned back around. "Is he bothering you?"

They immediately had everyone's attention and Cari quickly waved the question away. "No, not really. I think I just caught him at an odd moment."

"Please," Lionel scoffed. "No one ever catches Iagan doing anything unless he wants them to. Stay away from that guy, Cari. He's manipulative, he's a flat-out jerk, and it sounds strange, but I feel like he might be dangerous." He watched Cari seriously for a long second. "Do you want me to talk to him for you? Tell him to leave you alone?"

"What?" Cari asked, aghast. "He's dangerous, so you want to go tick him off? Thanks, but please don't. I'm not sure why he's being weird tonight, but I'm going to ignore it. If it keeps up, I'll let you know." Lionel still looked like he wanted to go have words with Iagan, so Cari changed the subject. "Why do you dislike him so much?"

"Ugh!" Lionel started, and Cari immediately knew she had plucked the right nerve. "You should see him in our Lawyer classes, Cari, you really should. It's terrifying. He can get out of anything or get anyone else in trouble just by saying a few words to the right person. I mean, that will make him a fantastic Lawyer later, but it's cheating." He raked a hand back over his hair, sighing deeply. "If I didn't know better, I would wonder if he's using some kind of jinx or charm to influence people. He's more trouble than he's worth, but I can talk to him if you need me to. I think I'm the only one who can see through the strings he pulls and because of that, I scare him."

Cari shook her head, still touched by the offer. "That's okay, Lionel. I think I'd be better off ignoring it unless I have no other choice. Thank you, though." Shortly afterward, she excused herself to go back to studying.

With a magical combination of last-minute cramming, a Pepper-Up potion, and friends who let her copy some of their answers, Cari managed to squeak by on her midterms. Though the professors weren't even thinking about grading the exams yet, she knew she hadn't come close to the grades she had gotten during the previous years. The only exception was her Broomsmith test, which she was fairly sure she had almost aced.

Besides the less-than wonderful scores on the midterms, all of the studying hadn't left any time for Cari to pack her things. The students were free to go at noon on Friday, so Cari excused herself from dinner early on Thursday night to go back and pack. To her surprise, there was a familiar figure leaving the cafeteria at the same time.

Realizing she was out of time, Cari called, "Iagan, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Miss Romana! How do you think your midterms went?"

Caught off-guard by his courteous demeanor and small talk, Cari stumbled, "Uh, okay. I mean, I guess. We'll have to wait until we get the official grades back to know for sure."

"Of course, of course." Iagan kept his gray gaze locked civilly with Cari's.

"Um, thank you for talking with me," she said, mostly to fill the silence that had fallen.

"It is, as always, my pleasure, Licaria." He stood quietly once more.

Cari slightly lost her temper. "I don't understand why you're being so polite. I was pretty sure that you were still angry with me."

With an expression of shock that Cari was almost positive was faked, Iagan pressed a hand to his chest. "Come, Licaria. You cannot think I would be upset about that? I would have thought you had figured it out by now."

"I've never been happier to say that I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sighing, Iagan explained slowly, as if to a small child, "The NAWT investigators do not care for my father and so they keep an eye on me any time they have reason to be at Echowick. They overheard my initial proposal and watched both of us for the following days. When you turned me down, you earned credibility with them and they found you innocent soon after. That was the point, was it not?"

"Yes, but…"

"But indeed. My services are not free, Licaria, though I do tend to give one free favor in order to grease the wheel, as it were. This will be your third favor and I'm afraid I must insist on a mutual exchange." The business-like tone was more what Cari had expected from the boy, and she folded her arms over her chest.

"We can negotiate terms after I'm sure you can get what I need."

"You need rougarou hair, approximately four to six strands." He smiled faintly at her surprise. "I do hear things, Licaria. Having connections around this school can be quite beneficial. I can get what you need, but only if you agree to my payment terms: a favor performed for me."

"What's the favor?" Cari asked, eyes narrowed.

"I will tell you when I know what I need." The skepticism remained on her face and he laughed. "Such cynicism! Very well, I cannot fault you for caution. Now that I've helped to uphold your stellar reputation in this school, it seems only fitting that you return the favor in kind. Sometime soon, I shall have an altercation with another student. I will need you, with your unimpeached character, to vouch for my alibi."

Cari was hesitant and obviously the expression showed on her face. Iagan raised a brow. "I know you have no aversion to lying. Is it only lying on my behalf that you object to?"

Cari shook her head and offered a hand to Iagan, but pulled it back before he could shake it. "We have a deal… _If_ you can promise that the other student in your 'altercation' will not die or be permanently injured."

He laughed, but there was an odd light in his eyes. "Of course I can promise that, if that is your only condition. Do we now have a deal?"

Warily, she shook his hand. "Yes, we have a deal."

"Excellent. I will have what you need by the date in January on which classes resume." He left without another word.

Cari stared at his retreating back. Now would be a perfect time for a moral crisis, but frankly, she didn't have the time. Shaking her head at the strange turns her life had taken lately, she went back to her apartment to pack.

* * *

Author's Note \- It's never good when Iagan wants something, though I'm sure you all - as the smart, discerning folks you are - already know this. I really don't have too much to tell you guys, other than that I still love reviews with all my heart and soul, and I will see you on Thursday with Chapter 43 (whew)!


	43. Home

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I still don't own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials or titles. I own the parts of this story that are original to me, but that's it. I don't make a penny from writing or publishing this.

* * *

Home

It was amazing how much Cari had changed in just a few years. She reflected on this a lot, but especially when she was back home for the holidays. Two short years before, she had hated and actively avoided any questions about her 'Canadian school'. Now, she fielded questions about her school like a pro, even managing to weave some part of the truth into her explanations. She regularly bored anyone who would listen by chatting about her friends and teachers.

"So, Cari," one of her great-aunts asked her. "Is there a special boy waiting for you back at your school?"

Cari waved the question away immediately. "Nope, nobody waiting for me. But did I tell you about the job they let me do? It's sort of an authority position, making sure some of the students follow the rules. It's important, and they've never let anyone do it before I came along."

"That's nice, dear," the older woman said, patting Cari kindly on the knee as she pushed herself off the couch and powered across the room.

Taking a sip of her Coke, Cari sat back into the couch and surveyed the room. _Well, there goes the last one. I don't think any of the others will make that mistake._ All of her relatives avoided making eye contact, but she reveled in the solitude. Only moments later, her father joined her on the empty couch. "How you holding up, kiddo?"

Cari shrugged. "Not bad. I think I've chased everyone off by now."

"Tell me your secrets!" Daniel laughed, though he closed his eyes in exhaustion. Cari watched him silently. Daniel always hated family gatherings. Naomi's family, bitter about him taking his wife away from the family, made the trip up from Texas for every New Year's party. Their barbed comments about his success and the noticeable lack of people from his side of the family clearly upset Daniel, and he did his best to make himself scarce during the holidays.

Of course, knowing what Cari now knew about his family and being wizards and witches, she understood a little better why none of them were ever at a party. _Come to think of it, I don't know how much family we have on his side…_ "Dad?" she asked. "Do you have a lot of people on your side of the family?"

He opened his eyes at that, glancing around nervously. "Now might not be the best time to discuss this, but no, not really. It's just my sister and I for the most part, and she disapproves of some of my choices, so I don't see her very often. Now," he slapped hands down on his thighs as he stood. "Want some food? I'm going to venture over to the refreshment table."

Cari shook her head at his daring attitude. The food table was right in the middle of the thickest knot of relatives. "I don't see how you think you're going to make it out of there, Dad. They'll surround you in half a second and you'll be stuck there for an hour."

Daniel grinned. "Why do you think I'm asking for your order? If I say I have to bring food to everyone's favorite chatterbox, they'll part like the Red Sea and I'll be back here, no problem. So, what can I get for you?"

She laughed, glad that her new, annoying reputation was being put to good use. "I'll take a slice of pizza. Cheese."

"One slice of cheese pizza coming right up!" Daniel gave an exaggerated bow, making Cari giggle, and headed over to the table. As Cari had predicted, the group of relatives opened as he walked to grab some food, but closed tightly once he had arrived. No more than thirty seconds later, she clearly heard, "Oh, I would love to stay and talk, Robert, but I have to get this stuff back to Cari. I guess you could always take it to her instead."

When Uncle Robert looked nervously over to where Cari sat, she made sure to sit straighter and smiled expectantly at him. His head disappeared back into the group, which spat out Daniel a moment later. He walked back to the couch chuckling, handing Cari a plate. "I don't know what you did to him, but I've never seen him so scared of someone other than his wife."

Cari barely fought back a chuckle. "I may have talked about Lydia for a while longer than necessary. Also, that may have been about twenty minutes of our twenty-one minute conversation."

Having successfully fought off Naomi's predatory relatives, Daniel and Cari spent the rest of their evening in secluded happiness in their corner of the room, watching the guests and offering an occasional remark. Fortunately, midnight wasn't far off. After waking up the sleeping Byron and letting off bottle rockets from the porch, 2009 had been officially rung in. Naomi ordered Byron off to his bedroom and turned to their guests.

"If anyone doesn't feel up to the drive back to the hotel tonight, I would be more than happy to make up the spare bedroom or the couch so people can stay here."

When everyone was pondering the offer and several were looking like they were leaning towards staying, Cari piped up, "That would be great! Then we could all eat breakfast together! There were a few things I didn't get to tell about school…"

"Cari!" Daniel admonished softly, but one corner of his mouth was twitching.

"I think we'll pass, Naomi," Uncle Bob said quickly. "Lots of packing to do tonight if we're going to leave tomorrow."

"Are you sure, Robert?" He nodded and Naomi looked disappointed. "Well, I expect you'll at least stop in to say goodbye before you actually leave."

"Of course we will, Naomi," Great-Aunt Esther promised, kissing Cari's mother on the cheek. "Thanks for having us over and we'll see you tomorrow."

"Make sure you guys drive safe! There are some maniacs out of those roads, especially the night of a holiday," Daniel said, stepping forward with his hand extended for handshakes with all of the uncles. They agreed, looking somewhat startled that he had willingly contributed to a conversation.

The door closed and Naomi watched through a pulled-aside drape as the relatives piled into a collection of cars. She turned back after they had begun to leave and started clearing up the leftover food. Cari gathered trash and her mother smiled at her. "Did you have fun, Cari? I noticed you were talking with quite a few of your aunts and uncles."

"Yeah, they just kept asking and asking about school. I was running out of things to tell them until they got distracted by the food." Cari could see that her father was about to lose it from where he was sweeping the floor and hurriedly noted, "It didn't seem like you spend a lot of time with them. Are you depressed about everyone leaving tomorrow?"

Naomi shrugged, wearing an oddly guilty expression. Eventually she sighed and admitted, "I actually can't wait for them to be gone." Cari gaped smilingly and her mother held up a warning finger. "They're my family and I love them, so you can't tell anyone we had this conversation. But, yes, they start to grate after a couple of days. Like Aunt Esther? Every time she comes to our house, there's always something not cleaned to her standards, or there's a better way for me to be making this dish. I know you kids love seeing everyone, so I try to keep on good terms, but we're not a particularly close family."

Cari opened her mouth to insist that Naomi didn't have to keep ties for her and Byron's sake, but stopped before a single syllable could leave her mouth. _If Dad does decide to tell her the truth and she can't handle it, she'll need a support system if she ends up moving back to Texas…_ "You're such a good mom," she said instead, keeping a joking mood going.

Naomi responded willingly enough, bowing slightly over a bowl of pretzels. "I'm so glad you approve." They laughed as Cari threw away the trash and Naomi began putting the leftovers into containers and plastic bags. "I really have this if you want to go to bed, honey. You look exhausted."

Cari smiled wearily at her mother. "Thanks, Mom. I'm just not used to staying up until midnight, you know?"

"I know, sweetie. Happy New Year and I'll see you in the morning." With a kiss on her forehead from both of her parents, Cari retreated to her bedroom. She barely managed to push aside her fourth set of blueprints for the broom before burrowing beneath the blankets and falling asleep.

Over the next few days, Cari lounged around, enjoying the calm before it was time to start packing for the return to Echowick. The two weeks of winter vacation had passed far too quickly, as they always did. She suspected that this time may have been because she likely had bad midterm results waiting for her at the school, but there was still time to not think about them.

Deciding to use her procrastination productively, Cari focused on finishing her final set of blueprints for the broom. She had made several modifications from her first rough sketch and looked forward to beginning the physical work on it. Of course, this was the most dangerous part since it had the highest chance of discovery by Professor Gregory or one of the Phillips boys, but Cari was beyond ready to bring her idea into the physical realm.

 _This is all assuming that Iagan actually managed to get the rougarou hair..._ She smirked down at the drawing lying on her bed. _I almost wish he couldn't get it, just so he would have to admit that he isn't as powerful as he thinks he is. Of course, that would mean Shadow wouldn't get to test-ride it before he has to go off to school in Europe…_ The smile faded from her face at the mental reminder of Shadow's upcoming departure, sheer determination replacing it. If Shadow truly wanted to be the first to ride her revolutionary broom, she would do whatever was necessary to ensure he got the chance.

The soft "Cari?" was her only warning before Byron stuck his head into her room, grinning proudly. "Can I come in?"

"Of course, Byron," Cari answered, waiting until he was concentrating on the door before shoving the blueprints under the covers piled messily on the bed. "What's up?"

"I drew you another picture!"

Cari's stomach twisted at the thought of anther oddly-prophetic drawing, but quickly reassured herself. She had taken Daniel's advice and studied Occlumency. Granted, that had been during the early part of the semester, before everything got so busy, but she thought she had a pretty good handle on it. She smiled encouragingly at Byron and patted the mattress beside her. "Awesome, thank you!"

He wiggled up onto the bed and held the paper out in front of him. It was a house. Feeling relieved at the slightly-anticlimactic turn of events, Cari laughed. "It's wonderful, Byron! What a beautiful house. And who are all of these people?"

Byron pouted, narrowing his blue eyes. "It's not a beautiful house; it's a _scary_ house. And this is you, this is Lydia, this is Professor Fleet, this is Eric…" he went on, listing off every one of Cari's friends who had helped out with the Halloween party several months ago as he pointed at the small stick figures. Cari knew her face had gone white, but Byron wasn't looking at her, instead focusing on a little figure next to Cari's blob. "And this is Shadow, though when you told Uncle Bob about him, you called him 'Shane'. Why did you do that?"

Cari tried to focus on her little brother, staring up at her guilelessly. "Because 'Shadow' is kind of a weird name. I didn't want Uncle Bob to make fun of him."

Nodding understandingly, Byron agreed. "He thinks mean things a lot."

"I'm not surprised," Cari stated, wondering how strange her life could get before she ran out screaming. "Byron, could you do me a favor? Don't talk about Professor Fleet and Shadow and my friends with anyone, okay? Even Mom."

"Why not Mom? She doesn't think mean things. I bet she would like Shadow's name. I do."

"I'm glad, but it would be better if I got to tell her about him, you know? Since he's my friend and everything?"

"Oh, okay. I'm going to go watch TV. Talk to you later, Cari!" Byron glanced around the room. "You really should start packing, shouldn't you?"

Cari groaned, feeling for the first time like she was having a normal conversation with her little brother. "Yeah, yeah, I know. That's what I keep telling myself." Byron grinned at her unwillingness to be productive and closed the door as he left.

The smile dropped from Cari's face immediately and she buried her face in her hands. _What am I going to do? Obviously, I don't have a handle on the Occlumency thing if Byron is still picking stuff out of my head! And either I am thinking louder than normal, or his 'mind-reading' thing is getting stronger. He's even getting names now!_

She stared down at the picture, the slight shaking in her hands growing more powerful as she realized that all of the drawn people had color-specific hair and that he had even gotten the details of the house correct. Cari flopped down on the bed, frowning up at the drawing and trying to think of an upside. _I guess there are worse Echowick memories he could be picking up on instead. At least he's not drawing me with my head bashed open, bleeding all over the exterior hallway._

Far from consoling her, the thought made Cari grimace. It was only a matter of time until she dreamed about Pitt. He was too much of a pain to be far from her thoughts. She turned over on her side, trying to get comfortable, but instead caught a glimpse of graph paper sticking out from under her sheets and sat upright. The broom! What if Byron found out about the broom? It was a wonder he didn't already know, and if he chattered about this kind of stuff in front of Daniel and Naomi… _Mom wouldn't pay attention, thinking it was just some weird imaginary game. Dad, on the other hand,_ she shuddered. _He would pull me out of Echowick so fast, I would never have the chance to see it coming._

Cari pulled the blueprints from under the covers, rolling them carefully before putting them safely in a bag, ready to be taken back to Echowick. Daniel would have to be told about Byron's strengthening powers and sooner would be better. Determination filling her, Cari strode to the door and began bounding down the stairs.

Predictably, Daniel was found out working in the back yard. It seemed to Cari that he had a never-ending stream of projects he was always working to complete, even in the dead chill of January – though Cari had to admit that it wasn't nearly as cold as it usually was.

"Dad!" she cried, getting Daniel's attention.

Turning around, he shaded his eyes and greeted, "Cari! Is everything okay?"

"No, it isn't! Byron's Legilimency-"

"Shh!" he urged, glancing around quickly. "We can't talk about that now. It isn't the time or the place. It would be too easy for someone to overhear us."

"But, Dad, he-"

"Cari! Whatever it is, you'll just have to wait until we're on our way to drop you off before we talk about it." He cut her off again before she could launch another protest. "Be quiet, Licaria. Your mother is coming."

Sure enough, when Cari turned, she found that her mother was only a few yards away, disappointment etched across her face. "Did you already tell her, Daniel? It was supposed to be a surprise."

"What do you mean?" Cari asked curiously.

Naomi studied her daughter's face, apparently in an attempt to see if this was a cover-up for her husband. "We're having a bonfire tonight. You love them and since it's strangely mild for a January, we thought it would be a good way to send you back to school."

Cari beamed. She truly did love bonfires, but being at Echowick during the fall, she rarely had the chance to experience them anymore. "A bonfire sounds great! How soon until we can get started?"

Behind her, Daniel laughed. "That's what I'm doing now: setting up the wood. Give me about half an hour and we'll start getting the food ready." He eyed the sky critically. "Hopefully, we can get everything done before the sun begins to set. No matter how warm it is now, after the sunlight is gone, it'll probably be too cold to stay out here."

"Come on, Cari. Let's go get your brother moving." Obligingly, Cari followed her mother back into the house.

Several blissful hours later, the Romana family trooped back inside, smelling like wood smoke and sticky from long strands of marshmallow. Everyone was tired, but it had been a wonderful time. After all of the fervor of guests in their house, it had been a nice change for the family to be together with just each other. Byron had spoken about things that had happened at his school, Cari warily told a few stories of her own, and Naomi amused the group with some of the answers she had received from students on a recent pop quiz. They had talked, they laughed, and Cari regained a sense of appreciation for her family – though she made a point of remembering that she would have to leave for Echowick again the next day.

On that note, by the time Cari helped clean up the plates and leftovers, washed her face, and changed into her pajamas, it was very late. Normally, she would be rushing to pack all of her belongings, but as she sat outside listening to Byron, she decided that sleeping around her little brother just wasn't an option until the broom had been made and safely tested so that Daniel couldn't stop her from building the prototype.

Cari spent the night packing as she danced and sang to music, read through a couple of books, worked on the blueprints, and whatever else she had to do to stay awake. She allowed herself only one twenty-minute nap. Forcing herself to wake up from that was one of the most difficult things Cari had ever done, but the thought of Byron being able to see what she dreamed was enough of an incentive to be up and moving once more.

Finally, the first light of day came creeping out from behind her curtains. Cari spent another hour in her room before getting dressed and venturing downstairs for breakfast. Her parents seemed surprised to see her so early, but Cari just shrugged it off, telling them that she always got a little nervous when she had to fly. Naomi was sympathetic, but when she wasn't looking, Daniel furrowed his brow at his daughter. Cari mouthed 'car' to him, and he nodded understandingly. They were joined by Byron just as the pancakes were ready and everyone enjoyed one more family meal before Daniel helped Cari get her bags downstairs and into the car.

While Daniel warmed up the car, Cari hugged her mother and little brother. "Bye, guys. It was great seeing you."

"Goodbye, Cari," Naomi said, giving her daughter an extra squeeze. "Be careful, have fun, work hard, all of that. Try and call a little more often if they'll let you, okay? I feel like I'm missing out on watching my little girl grow up."

"Mooommm…" Cari grumbled at Naomi's mushiness, but agreed to try to call more often. Surely Fleet wouldn't mind her using the phone more than once a month.

"Bye, Cari!" Byron said, face already buried in her shoulder as he hugged her. Cari realized with a start that she didn't have to bend near as far down as she used to, but pushed the thought off for the moment. Byron looked abashed as he admitted, "I don't have another picture for you. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Byron," Cari comforted, laughing slightly. "The one you gave me yesterday was more than enough." He frowned slightly and Cari hastily added, "I'll make sure to hang it up as soon as I get to school so it doesn't get wrinkled or anything." She straightened back up, told the pair that she loved them, and walked out to the car.

As soon as they had turned onto the main road, Cari turned to Daniel. "So, what I was trying to tell you yesterday: Byron's Legilimency is getting stronger."

Daniel smiled slightly. "Did he give you another picture of Echowick?"

Deadly serious and a little offended that her father was taking her warning lightly, Cari's voice came out icy. "No. He drew a very detailed picture of a haunted house we set up for Halloween and added little stick figures. One was me, another was the Headmistress, one was Lydia, one was Shadow… He had them all, Dad. Every single person who was there, he had drawn."

"Did you practice Occlumency at all over the past semester?" Cari's warning had done the trick, and Daniel's face and voice were now terse.

"Yeah, a little bit. It's been a busy semester, but I worked on it as much as I can without something solid to fight against. Dad, what are we going to do? You know that Byron's kind of a loudmouth. It's only a matter of time before he talks to Mom about all of this stuff and she actually takes it seriously."

Cari's father sighed. "I don't know what to do, Cari. You're the only one who he picks things up from, probably because you're close and you're related by blood."

"You're related by blood, but I know what you mean. Still, isn't there a spell or something you can use to erase his memory?" Cari felt a little guilty, talking about using magic on her brother, but too much was at stake for half-measures.

"You know that's not an option." He glanced over and found Cari staring at him. "Yes, there is a spell, but it has to be used right after someone finds out information they shouldn't and it only takes the memory of the information. Byron wasn't trained to do this; it's a natural skill, so we can't wipe the training from his mind. The only thing I could do is take the memories he pulled from you, but that would still leave us with the same problem every time you come home. Besides, we've talked about my magic before. I'm not the strongest wizard in the world, so why would I want to risk my own child by attempted a spell that affects his brain?"

Cari huffed out a breath. _I hate when I can't think my way out of a situation…_ "So, right now," she summed up. "Our choices are you and I – and Byron, probably – being outed as having magic or potential brain damage for Byron." Daniel nodded. "This sucks."

Letting out a surprised burst of laughter, Daniel nodded again. "Let me think on it for a couple of days. Maybe I can figure something out. For now, I'll do some damage control at home and try to keep Byron from saying anything to your mother. Sound like a plan?"

"Well, definitely not a foolproof one, but I guess it'll have to do." For the first time in her memory, Cari thought longingly about the days before she knew anything about magic.

* * *

Author's Note \- I'm really sorry about this chapter. It's one of those 'exposition/character growth/time passing' chapters that I try to cut down on in my current writings, but this one was just not cooperating. Rest assured, this chapter is very much 'the calm before the storm'-type of thing, so be ready for what's coming up!

Also, the formatting is being a pain yet again, so I'll be fixing that later tonight or early tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!


	44. Lacking

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials. The only parts of this story I own are the original elements. Everything else is the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. And in case there was doubt, I'm still not making money from writing or posting this. It's just a hobby.

* * *

Lacking

Coming back to Echowick was always scary, but it wasn't the advanced classes, the dangerous spells, or even the bullying that made it frightening. Instead, Cari always walked into her dorm room with bated breath, praying that Lydia hadn't thought it necessary to redecorate the room between semesters. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the work her roommate always put into their décor; it was just somewhat exhausting to keep switching from theme to theme.

With a sense of great relief, Cari walked into their same, space-themed room and began to unpack. Lydia either hadn't arrived yet or had already been in the room and left again. Either way, Cari was alone and soon decided to catch up on some of the sleep she had missed out on the night before. Knowing that she would likely be woken up sooner rather than later, Cari kicked off her shoes, took off the sweatshirt she had been wearing under her coat, and crawled under the covers mostly dressed, ready to roll out if necessary.

Unfortunately for her, it was indeed necessary when, less than an hour later, Kimber stuck her head into the room. "This is your ten-second warning, Cari. Lydia's headed here now and she's ticked that you didn't meet her in the student lounge like you were supposed to."

Cari groaned as she rolled over and stared at the ceiling blearily. It had been a good nap and she was sorry to see it go. True to Kimber's warning, Lydia was in the room only seconds later.

"Cari! Why didn't you meet me? I specifically left you a note!" Cari raised an eyebrow and watched as Lydia pulled a neon pink sticky note from the window and shoved it in Cari's face for inspection.

When Cari had pulled her face far enough away to read Lydia's neat writing, it did indeed say, 'Hi, Cari! Welcome back! I'm up in the student lounge with a bit of a situation brewing. Come find me!' It was followed with a heart and a smiley face. When she had finished reading, Lydia was watching her expectantly. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Lydia, I am operating on roughly an hour and a half of sleep. I'm so tired, I'm worried I'm going to throw up. If you want me to deal with any kind of 'brewing situation', it'll have to wait for me to nap for another hour or so." She rolled back over toward the wall, words muffled by the sheets. "Okay, so we'll meet back here in one hour. One, two, three, break!"

Even as she started dozing off again, Cari heard Lydia sigh. "Cari, it's about Arsenia." Cari rolled her - closed - eyes. _Still not important enough for me to stay awake._ Lydia went on, "She threatened Willa today."

That did it. Cari sat up, frowning at her roommate. "If this is some kind of a cheap gimmick to get me to the student lounge, I will never speak to you again."

"No, it's true. Cross my heart," she swore, literally drawing an 'x' over the center of her chest.

Cari sighed. "Okay, that's not where your heart is, but spill. What exactly happened?"

"Oh, no," Lydia chided, standing up. "If you want to hear all about it, you'll have to come with me to the student lounge." Seeing the reluctance on Cari's face, she added, "It's really Willa's story. It's only right that you hear it from her."

"Willa will tell me later. I'll see her at dinner." Cari lay back down.

"No, she won't," Lydia sang. "Shadow doesn't know yet, and she's determined not to let him find out."

Cari was out of her bed and putting her shoes on before she knew what had happened. Lydia, a triumphant smile pasted on her face, led the way up the stairs to the student lounge. Cari walked in stifling a yawn with one hand and acknowledging the greetings of her friends with the other. She flopped unceremoniously down on a couch and asked bluntly, "What's this I hear about Arsenia?"

Willa rolled her eyes and glared over at Lydia. "How many people are you planning on telling, Abrams?"

Lydia shrugged unrepentantly as Cari leaned forward. "So? Tell me everything." Willa stared at her in silence for a moment and Cari frowned. "I'm giving up a truly glorious nap to be here for this. Tell. Me. Everything."

They had a brief staring match, which Cari won through sheer determination and the anger that comes from losing an opportunity to sleep. Willa blinked, sighed, and began to speak. "I got here early today, the first one in my apartment to arrive. I was halfway through unpacking when someone knocked on my door. Since my roommates have an irritating habit of constantly forgetting their keys, I opened it without looking at who it was and found Arsenia outside."

Willa smiled faintly. "She was extremely unhappy with me. Apparently, she and Shadow are still not officially dating, and Arsenia had somehow traced it back to find that I am the cause. I explained to her once again that I have no interest in dating Shadow and that we may barely be considered friends, let alone more. Needless to say, she didn't believe me."

Cari leaned forward. "And that's when she threatened you?"

The beautiful blonde third-year shrugged. "In a sense. You know Arsenia. She speaks in the vaguest terms. All she said was that I need to stay out of Shadow's way or she will 'make me suffer'. That was all, hardly worth this level of excitement."

Jael cut in, speaking from where she was leaning against a wall, muscular arms folded threateningly across her chest. "I told you, Willa. Say the word and I'll make her 'suffer' before she can even think about doing anything to you."

"No, that is a pointless step. At this time, she has never escalated the confrontations to physical violence. I do not wish to be the person who pushes our disagreement in that direction."

"Okay, I've got one," Cari said, compelled to point out the obvious. "Have you thought about telling Shadow that all of this is going on? I mean, he's the one not-quite-dating her in the first place. He could probably get her to knock it off. I'm not really sure why he keeps her around anyway, since she's certifiably insane…"

Almost in unison, the gathering of females rolled their eyes. "Because she's 'hot'," Tessa explained, making air quotes to drive her derision home.

"But still," Cari argued. "No matter how 'hot' she is, I'm sure that if you told Shadow-"

She cut off suddenly as the boy in question peeked into the room. "I'm sorry, did you guys need something?"

Cari raised an eyebrow at Willa. "Tell him. There's not going to be a better time."

"Tell me what? Now you have to tell me, because I'll die of curiosity otherwise," Shadow reasoned with a grin.

"Fine," Willa sighed, rising from her seat and swaying over to stand in front of the doorway. "Shadow… Oh, my dear, sweet Shadow…" Willa's voice was poignantly wistful and Shadow looked stunned, but not unpleasantly so. "I do so regret to tell you that we must never be together." Shadow's brows crashed together at this as he tried in vain to speak. Willa nearly touched a finger to his lips. "Shh… I know very well of your feelings for me, but I must tell you that they are unrequited. We will never be anything more than friends. I'm sorry."

Shadow cleared his throat, now looking seriously concerned. "Willa… I don't know what kind of vibes you're picking up, but I think of you as a sister. _Only_ a sister. I don't know who told you that there was something else happening here, but they must have been playing some kind of a sick joke."

Willa's hand dropped to her side as she stepped back, looking pleased. "Good. Tell your girlfriend that."

"Girlfriend? Sh- She's- Arsenia is not my girlfriend!"

Jackie waved a hand airily. "You hang out with her, talk to her all of the time, and obviously think she's interesting in some way since you keep her around. You might not be official, but we can all agree that saying she isn't your girlfriend is splitting hairs."

Shadow sputtered, getting very red in the face, but Willa cut him off. "Farewell, my dear, conflicted Shadow…" she sighed just before she slammed the door in his face and the room dissolved into bouts of giggles.

After some chatting and catching up, the females of the group went off to the cafeteria. Dinner was a true joy, filled with confused glances from the boys – whom Shadow had obviously told about the odd encounter with Willa – and condescending chuckles from the girls. Cari didn't really notice much about the food, other than that it was hot and filling and made her even more sleepy than she had been.

Just as she began to feel as though she would never make it back to the dorm room without being carried, Lydia stood and stretched. "I think I'm going to bed now. Classes are early tomorrow."

A collective groan went up from the third-year table at this reminder and everyone started moving at once to follow Lydia's example. Cari eagerly stood, tired body wanting to drag, but she forced herself along, thinking longingly of the pajamas and bed awaiting her.

"Licaria, may I have a word?"

Cari barely stifled a groan as Iagan's soft request reached her. She shrugged helplessly at her roommate. Lydia made a suspicious face, aimed toward Cari at an angle so that the fourth-year boy couldn't see her. Cari waved her on, signaling that she would be along shortly. When Lydia had walked off in the direction of the Physical Wing dorms, Cari turned and approached Iagan.

"And how was your winter vacation, Licaria?"

"Sleepless, Iagan, so I would really rather get back to my dorm as soon as possible."

"Ah. My apologies." Iagan gave a slight bow as he pulled a delicate glass tube from his pocket, presenting it to Cari. "Your requested items?"

Weariness forgotten, Cari eagerly accepted the tube, surreptitiously shaking it to see that all of the hair she needed was inside. Iagan watched this process with a small smile. "It is everything you needed, plus a few extra. No additional charge," he added quickly. "I wanted to ensure that you had room for error if necessary. I wish you luck." With a wink, he melted into the disappearing crowd.

Cari could only stare after Iagan wordlessly as he walked away. When she finally did move, it was to hide the glass tube in one of her pockets. Surrounded by students departing the cafeteria, the exhausted crashed into Cari once more and she hurried off to bed.

* * *

The next day marked the beginning of classes for the semester. Unerringly, the professors all chose to hand out the students' midterm grades at the beginning of their hour. Cari's stomach twisted itself into knots every time the professor in question began to walk around with a large stack of pages. Potions had gone surprisingly well, but this was due mostly to the fact that their midterm test had been to brew a basic cure for boils. It was an easy potion and Cari had passed with flying colors. The written test was fairly simple as well.

The rest of her classes didn't have such good news. In fact, in Survival – where, typically, Cari and Jael always vied for top score and usually ended up tied for full points – Mr. Kreer had announced that Jael was the top of the class after having graded the midterms. Instead of the usual congratulations for doing such a good job, Cari's classmates turned to her with varying expressions of confusion and shock on their faces. "What happened, Romana?" "Are you okay, Cari?" "Did someone give you the wrong test by mistake?"

Even Jael was scowling. "Mr. Kreer, there must be some mistake. Cari and I are always tied for top of the class."

Mr. Kreer, rather than answering, stared pointedly at Cari. Already flustered by the gazes and questions from her classmates, Cari flushed a deep shade of red and shrugged. "I had a bad month or two at the end of the semester. Hopefully, that's all over with now." Mr. Kreer was the last to turn his attention elsewhere, and the disappointment clearly written across his face hurt Cari more than losing a chance at 'top of the class' ever would.

Herbology's score was less-than thrilling, though to be honest, Cari had expected that. She had never been good with plants, and her scores on the midterm definitely reflected this. The students had been scored based on how their plants were growing and given the scoresheet as a midterm. Cari's had several notes written in the margins, carefully avoiding the checkmarks for a healthy plant that were left blank. 'Your plant appears to be overwatered and may be experiencing problems due to a seed planted deeper than is recommended.' 'Under closer inspection, your plant has been found to be infested with insects as well.' 'Miss Romana, if your plant lives another month, I will be utterly shocked. See me after class.' Cari sighed, but when her plant had indeed died before the students' return to Echowick, Professor Tallet said not to bother seeing her after class. It wasn't the kind of excuse Cari enjoyed, but whatever got her out of meeting with the Herbology professor was fine with her.

In Magical Heritage and Transfiguration, Cari had passed. She wasn't the worst in the class, but she was far from the best. Both Fleet and Perez expressed shock that she had done so comparatively poorly after being a typically-impressive student for more than two years, but she had just given her 'bad month' excuse and been dismissed. Perez even told her not to be too hard on herself. Cari's self-loathing was limitless.

Cari made a vow then, on her way from the Transfiguration classroom, that nothing would distract her from primary studies that semester. The broom prototype would have to be worked on during classes on Wednesday or Friday and when else she had no studying to do for actual classes. And the knowledge of Shadow's upcoming departure from Echowick would have to be pushed from her mind at all times. Briefly, Cari began to wonder why these two things in particular had derailed her normally-stellar academic record, but she soon decided not to peek under that rock. _All that matters is that I do better from now on._

It had taken a lot of planning before Cari figured out how to work on the broomstick prototype. The rowan Shadow had managed to get was made up of one large branch with several smaller off-shooting branches sticking out to the sides. After taking one look at it, Cari knew that she would need to use some of the machines in Building 7 if she wanted to finish the prototype before she graduated. Working on it only in secret was obviously out.

The answer, shockingly, came from Lydia. She had walked into the dorm room in late December and found Cari hard at work on yet another full-sized broomstick. Lydia groaned. "Are you _still_ working on that thing?"

"Still?" Cari parroted, unable to hide the offense in her voice. "What do you mean 'still'?"

Lydia shrugged. "Haven't you been working on that thing for like, three months now?"

Cari looked down at the broomstick, studying the runes she had just started carving, and thought back to the stick she had been working on three months ago. "Lydia! Are you serious? This is a completely different broom. I finished that one ages ago!"

"Oh. Well, how was I supposed to know that? All broomsticks look the same, you know. I'm surprised anyone can tell the difference, Broomsmith or not."

"Well, I guess I can understand that," Cari admitted grudgingly. "They even get a little tricky for us to tell apart, especially when you're been working with so many-" She cut herself short, thinking over everything she had just said. "Lydia!"

Her roommate, obviously not paying attention, jumped. "What?!"

"You're a genius! You just gave me the best idea ever!"

"Okay. You're welcome, I guess. In return, you should definitely not tell me anything about it." The words were joking, but Lydia's tone and eyes were pleadingly serious. Rolling her eyes at Lydia's hatred of anything having to do with the outdoors or hard work, Cari had rushed off to Building 7.

Now, on the first day of Broomsmith classes in the new semester, it was time for Cari to put her plan into motion. When Cari walked into Building 7, everyone was hard at work. Even Professor Gregory was helping Ransom with some delicate charm work on a broom he had been putting together. It was a wonderful change from Cari's other distracted classes. With one deep breath of the sweet, sawdust-scented air, the knot in her stomach relaxed for the first time in days.

"Hello, Miss Romana," Professor Gregory greeted tranquilly when he noticed her.

"Hi," she returned, still absorbing the peace in the room.

Before he returned to his work, the professor smiled at her. "And, of course, congratulations are in order."

"I passed my midterms?"

"Of course," he answered, stunned by the surprise in her voice. "Why would you ever think otherwise?"

"Yeah," Ransom said sourly, though his eyes were twinkling. "After all, you're never anything less than top of the class. Making the rest of us look like bad students, I might add."

Cari collapsed into a seat, shocked at how much this had apparently meant to her. "It's just… I haven't been doing so well in my other classes. I was worried the midterm grade in this one wouldn't turn out well, either."

Professor Gregory waved a dismissive hand. "Well, this is the class that really matters and you did marvelously on your midterm. I tested your broomstick just after out last class of the semester and it performed extremely well. Now, I know you like to have plenty of time to perfect your work, so we can get you started on one more practice broomstick before you start working on the one that will be used for your final-"

"No!" Cari could see that the outburst had startled the occupants of the room and quickly amended her denial. "I mean, I think I would rather have more time to get one right rather than divide my attention between two. This way, I can really work on one and get it done well. If that's okay?"

Professor Gregory nodded his assent and gestured to the group of prepared broomsticks leaned against a wall in the corner of the building. "That will be fine. You can go pick out a broomstick when you're ready."

"Actually, can I try working with one from rough storage?"

"Rough storage?" Professor Gregory glanced over at the rough storage pile, essentially a stack of random tree branches with varying degrees of resemblance to an actual broomstick. "Miss Romana, that is a terribly large amount of work. Are you sure you wouldn't be setting yourself up for failure?"

Cari shrugged. "If I'm going to be working on one broomstick for almost half a year, it isn't like I'll run out of time. Besides, this gives me the chance to really work with the wood from the beginning of the process to the conclusion."

"If that is what you want to do, Miss Romana, you have my blessing. We'll have to work together on taking off smaller branches, cutting the bark, sanding down the branch to the correct shape and thickness… You are sure about this?"

"Yes. I think it sounds like an interesting challenge," Cari asserted.

Professor Gregory shrugged and nodded toward the rough storage area before turning back to help Ransom once more.

Obligingly, Cari crossed over to stand in front of pile of branches. She looked around, searching through the stack. She moved some branches, lifted others out of the way, even tested the flexibility of a few. This was all for show, obviously. In reality, she kept her gaze on the rowan branch Shadow had brought at the beginning of the year, making sure to come back to it several times so that there would be no question of why she had chosen that particular section of wood. After checking nearly every branch in rough storage, Cari lifted the rowan experimentally, unable to bite back a smile at the feel of the branch.

The response was strange, especially since Cari had no real connection to the wood. Rowan was not what her wand was made of – her wand was aspen – and she hadn't worked with it very often before. However, when she picked up the branch, it was like there was a low-level electric current running up her arm. The hum was pleasant, almost tickling, and she had a sudden surge of hope that the prototype was going to be a success. If Shadow's response to the broom was half as strong as hers to the raw rowan wood, there was no way they would fail.

After she had carefully carried the branch back to her previous spot in the room, Professor Gregory approached, showing her how to saw off the larger branches and use a tail twig trimmer to take off the smaller, whippy twigs.

Cari immediately began the work, swearing at times that she could feel the rowan sigh in contentment every time she removed an unnecessary branch. Beside her, Professor Gregory began speaking about the particular results of the midterm test on her broomstick. "I feel that you've truly mastered the basic charms. Toward the end of this year or the beginning of next year, we'll teach you the rest of the charms for the handle. You won't be tested on them for this year's final, but if you can manage to finish this broomstick and do half as good a job as you have with all of your previous ones, I have no doubt that you'll pass with ease. Do you feel you have an adequate grasp on the general rules for placing and charming runes on broomsticks?"

Cari hummed noncommittally. The feelings and connection she was getting with the rowan branch were far more interesting than anything Professor Gregory had to say, despite how much she liked him as a professor. Before long, his words faded away completely as she slipped into a world of her own, concentrating all her attention on perfectly forming the broomstick.

* * *

Author's Note \- I have a feeling more than a few of you can relate to Cari's current struggle. It seems like you have to choose between school and a life sometimes, and a healthy balance is hard to find. It gets easier, though! Okay, moving on from the life lesson stuff, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if it's a little bit shorter than usual. We've come to the end of the month of double updates, so from here on out, it'll just be Monday postings - at least until I get some more chapters written! Drop a review if you so choose. Thanks to Ashes-To-Diamonds for her review(s since I'm not sure I thanked her for the last one) and I'll see you next Monday!


	45. Valentine's Day: Year Three

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own any rights to the _Harry Potter_ franchise, including books, movies, or any other media. These all belong to J.K. Rowling, as do the rights to any non-original elements of this story.

* * *

Valentine's Day: 2009

"I can't freaking believe this!" Asher raged, bursting into Building 7. Cari and Professor Gregory stared at him, shocked by the normally-calm boy's explosion. Ransom, apparently used to his brother's random fits of passion, continued working on his broom as though nothing had happened.

"Um, what can't you freaking believe, Asher?" Professor Gregory asked nervously.

"Professor Tallet! The seventh-years wanted to sell plants again this year to raise money since it's an established success as a fundraiser. Well, she said she would have the moly ready to be sold by the beginning of February, but we all voted that we wanted to sell something other than moly. It's been done to death and we don't want to do exactly the same thing every year. Makes sense, right?"

Both Professor Gregory and Cari nodded, wide-eyed but silent. Apparently, that was all the encouragement Asher needed as he continued. "When we told Tallet we were thinking something more like an actual flower, something romantic, she shot us down right away! She said she would plant moly or nothing." Asher screwed up his face and continued in a perfect impression of the Herbology Professor, " _I don't know if having the moly around is the reason Echowick has experienced a drop in romantic enchantments over the past few years, but I'm not going to risk it_. Can you believe that? It's ridiculous!"

Cari shrugged, carefully avoiding eye contact with the irate seventh-year. "I don't know, it seems like everyone really likes the moly. Besides, I think it's a pretty plant, especially in the pots she always puts them in."

"Romana," Ransom sighed, voice exasperated. "It doesn't matter that moly is _pretty_. It matters that a girl isn't going to be impressed by it. You need something that's really going to knock her off her feet, something exciting that's going to make her forget all about everything going on between you and just fall back in love."

"…Or something that's going to sell a lot of flowers and let us have a really nice graduation party." Asher's gaze turned speculative as he studied his younger brother. "Problems with the girlfriend, Ransom?"

Ransom blushed and dropped his gaze to the broom resting on the table in front of him. "Kimber and I aren't doing so well. We had another huge fight and I'm not sure if a moly plant is going to solve anything. Especially since that's exactly what I got her for Valentine's Day last year." He rubbed his face tiredly. "I don't know if we're going to make it through this fight."

Asher and Professor Gregory wore sympathetic expressions, but Cari was unimpressed. "Then just get her something that's not offered by the senior class. Put a little effort into it." She thought it over for a second. "Of course, that's assuming you're sure you want to get Kimber something in the first place. She's not much for gifts as a reason to forgive someone. Have you thought about doing something else instead?"

Ransom stared at her, aghast. "But gifts worked at the beginning of the semester! You and your roommate helped me get gifts for Kimber and they smoothed things right over."

Using an impressive display of willpower, Cari managed not to facepalm. "Seriously? You think the gifts were what made Kimber stop being mad at you?" Ransom nodded and Cari sighed. "Wow. Maybe you two don't need to be together." She took pity on her classmate and explained, "Kimber couldn't care less about the stuff you got her. She was impressed by the fact that you paid attention to the things she likes and remembered them enough to give her gifts that had emotional significance. Or at least, that was the idea."

"Oh," Ransom said succinctly, propping his chin on one hand, elbow on the table. He thought for a moment before asking, "You think I should get her another candle?"

"Boys!" Cari hissed out, earning surprised glances from the other two males in the room. "It's a wonder the human race has survived this long."

It was a very silent class.

* * *

When Valentine's Day came, it arrived in a rush of giggling girls, blushing boys, and exasperated professors. For a solid week before the holiday, the hallways were filled with long glances and whispered plans. Even Cari, who truly didn't mind Valentine's Day, began to get annoyed by the constant irritants and longed for the day to be past.

Lydia, on the other hand, did not feel the same way. She reveled in this time of year, excitedly discussing the decorations, whether any parties were planned, who might be getting presents for who else and whether their feelings were returned. Cari tuned it out for the most part, but if Lydia had one true skill other than planning parties, it was persistence.

The morning of Valentine's Day, she woke Cari up, excitedly chatting about her plans for the day before Cari was even truly conscious. Before she could roll toward the wall and pull covers over her head, Lydia spoke directly to her. "That reminds me, Cari; did you ever figure out who sent you the moly plant last year? You said you were going to look into it, but I never heard anything else about it. Did you find your secret admirer?"

Still hoping vainly for a last few minutes of sleep, Cari grunted to indicate a 'no', but Lydia apparently didn't understand her sophisticated way of expressing herself. "I'm sorry, I don't speak troll."

Cari gave another grunt, this one with spiteful overtones, but Lydia was having none of it. "Licaria Romana, you answer me right now. I need to know what happened! I don't know why I never wondered about it before…"

Abandoning any further hope of sleep, Cari flipped to her back and blinked up at the ceiling. When Lydia cleared her throat sharply, Cari rolled her eyes. "No, Lydia. I did not find out anything about who sent the plant. I just know that it wasn't my dad. I don't know who else would have done something like that and I have no other clues."

"Ooh!" Lydia squealed excitedly as Cari momentarily closed her eyes and tried not to hate her roommate. "A real, live secret admirer! Are you just ridiculously excited about today? What if he sends another one?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll be even more confused." Lydia huffed. "Well, what do you expect me to do? It's not like I can track the person down, and even if I did, what then? Thank them for the plants and ask why they're sending them?"

"…Or, embrace passionately and start dating immediately," Lydia supplied.

Cari made a face. "No, probably not." Lydia looked confused. "Either it's someone I don't know, which means that I wouldn't date them, or it's someone I do, and then I would have to wonder why they didn't just tell me their feelings up front."

"Maybe they're shy?"

"Maybe. Anyway, I have bigger things going on right now. Have you noticed that Kimber is avoiding me lately?"

Lydia leaned into her mirror, applying a careful layer of makeup. Distractedly, she said, "I thought she always avoided you? I didn't think you guys were actually friends."

"We didn't used to be. Most of first year, I think she hated me. Or at least, she really didn't like me. But we've gotten friendlier over the years until just a couple of weeks ago." Cari climbed out of bed and began to get dressed, thinking out loud as she did. "We were fine when we got back from Christmas vacation. A couple of days after that was when I really began to notice it."

"I don't really know what to tell you, Cari. She hasn't said anything to me about it, but you know we're not really close."

Rolling her eyes at her roommate's unhelpfulness, Cari put on her shoes in silence and stood waiting by Lydia and her mirror. "It's rude to stare!" the mirror chided. "Give her some privacy."

Obligingly, Cari moved her gaze elsewhere as she took a step back, wondering why putting on makeup was an activity one needed privacy for. In the middle of her musings, her eyes fell on the calendar hung neatly in one corner of Lydia's bulletin board. She had drawn a large red heart around February 14th. "Lydia!" Cari snapped.

Lydia, in the middle of putting on mascara, jerked violently at Cari's tone. Her hand, still holding the wand, swiped a thick streak of black up the majority of her forehead. She swore softly and began repairing the damage with a tissue as she glared over at Cari. "Seriously, Romana? What is your problem?"

"It's Saturday, Abrams. Saturday. There had better be a good reason you woke me up at seven in the morning on a weekend."

Lydia gave a long-suffering sigh. "Well, how are the moly deliverers supposed to find us if we're hiding out in our room all day? We have to go out in public."

Since 'public' was one of Cari's least-favorite places to go, she seriously considered refusing. However, she was upright and dressed. Actually going back to sleep wasn't really going to be an option, so she might as well go talk to people, if only to make sure that she didn't start beating Lydia with the overly-intrusive mirror.

As would come as a shock to no one but Lydia, the cafeteria was almost completely empty. Some effort had been made to celebrate the holiday, however. The table boasted heart-shaped waffles and pancakes, paired with red syrup. Cari tasted it warily, but found that it was merely strawberry instead of something truly disgusting. Tessa and Toby wandered in around eight o'clock, being nauseatingly gooey and romantic together. Lydia cooed, but Cari privately was grateful that she had already finished eating.

Any time she tried to make excuses and leave, Lydia frowned at her and jabbed a finger down, signaling clearly that Cari was to remain in the cafeteria. It was nearly nine-thirty when Kimber peered into the cafeteria, made eye contact with Cari at the table, and immediately turned around to leave the room. "I have to go. See you guys later," Cari said shortly, ignoring the displeased expression on Lydia's face as she hurried away after her dorm-mate.

Kimber unwittingly led Cari to a fourth-year Academics student lounge. When they seemed close to their destination, Cari grimaced. _Please don't let me walk in on Kimber cheating on Ransom. Or having a fight. Or doing anything illegal._

To Cari's extreme relief, Kimber was alone in the room. On the other hand, Kimber was alone in the room, facing the door with an expectant look on her face. That was a little less relieving. Kimber nodded when Cari walked through the door, as though her guess had been correct. "Okay," she said heavily. "What do you want?"

"Why are you avoiding me?" There was no other lie Cari could think of off the top of her head that would explain away following her dorm-mate into an unfamiliar Wing, so she simply offered up the truth. With the other girl's reaction, it had been an unexpected good choice.

Kimber's eyes popped wide. "Why am I avoiding you? That's what you want to ask me?"

"Well, yeah," Cari said uncertainly. "Why, should I be asking you something else?"

Giggling a little bit, Kimber shook her head. "Not really. I just- I feel like I may have been overreacting to something. It's nothing, really."

Cari wasn't entirely sure this answered her question, so she persisted. "But why were you avoiding me? Did I make you mad somehow? I kind of… Well, I kind of thought we were becoming friends. Or at least, friendlier than we started off."

Looking considering, Kimber said slowly, "I suppose we are. I hadn't really thought about it until now, but yeah. I guess we're friends. Well, as my friend, you deserve an explanation for why I've been avoiding you lately. Please, sit down." She gestured at the couch behind Cari as she sat down herself.

Cari glanced uncertainly at the sofa. "I'm all for the explanation, but are you sure we shouldn't be moving somewhere else? I don't want to get into trouble for being here."

Kimber waved this away. "Don't worry about it. I have some friends over in this Wing who will vouch for us if anyone starts asking questions." Mollified, Cari sat down, sinking slowly into the couch. "I've been avoiding you because you're friends with Ransom."

Cari could only blink at this unexpected statement. "Friends with Ransom."

"Yes. I know you and Ransom are in the Broomsmith program together and that you guys are friends. Well, I figured that he had told you all about the problems we've been having lately, and I didn't want you to stick up for him just because you're his friend."

"Well, as his friend, I have to say that any problems you guys are having are more likely to be because of something he did than something you did." Cari leaned forward, feeling the need to accentuate her next words. "Kimber, I would never try to tell you what you should do with your relationship. That is completely your decision. If you need someone to talk to or reason things out with, I would love to be there for you, but I'm not going to make choices for you or judge the ones you make on your own."

"Thank you," Kimber said softly, gratitude shining from her lovely face. "It means a lot. It might be a little soon, but is there any chance you would want to test that theory right now? I really don't know what to do about Ransom."

"Sure," Cari invited, sitting back in her puffy couch and gesturing for Kimber to go on. "I'll help if I can and stay out of it if I can't."

So Cari and Kimber sat in the fourth-year Academics Wing student lounge and talked about life and problems. Kimber told Cari all about how distant Ransom was becoming and her frustration with their constant fighting. Cari listened, nodding encouragingly when the situation called for it and asking an occasional question for clarity.

When Kimber had finally run out of details to share, Cari asked carefully, "And is there any other reason you feel you might not be happy with Ransom? Are there any other guys you think would be a better fit?"

"Not really," Kimber said, voice slow and ponderous. "It's not that I'm cheating on Ransom, or even that I'm seriously looking at other guys. I'm just trying to figure out why I feel so unhappy and if this is just a part of being in a relationship."

"So Chayton has nothing to do with any of this?" Cari asked, point-blank.

Unexpectedly, Kimber leaned back against her couch and sighed with a little half-smile, "Ah, Chayton. You know, he apologized for trying to take advantage of me. We've talked a lot since then, even hung out a couple of times. He's really trying to be a good guy and I give him credit for it."

"You like him!" Cari said, unable to keep the shock from her voice.

"What?" Kimber cried in a voice just as shocked. "I do not! I just appreciate that he's trying to change and be more mature. I have to give him credit for that. And- well, I might like him a little." Cari gaped and Kimber held up two fingers a centimeter apart. "Just a little, little, _tiny_ bit."

When Cari could finally close her mouth, she shook her head and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea," Kimber admitted. "But I do know that I can't do anything about it anytime soon. Even if Ransom and I broke up tomorrow – if – I still wouldn't jump into a relationship with Chayton. When we were at that dance, hanging out and having fun, it was the most fun I've ever had, the most connected I've ever felt with someone. Yeah, it all went south eventually, but we really get along. I don't want to risk throwing that away on a rebound."

"I do not envy you the situation," Cari acknowledged, then added with a smile, "But thanks for telling me anyway. Does this mean the avoiding stuff is all over with?"

"Yeah, definitely." Kimber smiled over at her, but the friendly moment was cut short when Lydia's voice rang down the hallway. Both girls ducked as their apartment-mate walked past, looking in. As soon as the coast was clear, they made a break for their apartment.

The two successfully hid from Lydia for nearly three hours, but were eventually found hanging out in the Physical Wing student lounge. Admittedly, they weren't really hiding anymore, but Lydia didn't mind. "Oh, good. I was going to bring you guys here anyway."

"Really?" Kimber asked, the skepticism thick in her voice.

Lydia nodded, uncaring. "Yeah. If any of us have Valentine's that need to be delivered to us, we'll easily be found here. It's the perfect plan."

With a subtle wink over at Kimber, Cari nodded. "That's exactly what we were thinking. Plus, we can nonchalantly watch a movie while we wait so no one thinks we're over-eager. We were actually going to come and find you if you didn't show up soon."

Lydia made a face at Cari and sighed. "Fine, we can watch a movie. But it has to be something romantic!"

Kimber grimaced. "I mean, an argument can be made that almost any movie has elements of romance in it. Even, say, _Die Hard_ is a movie about a man trying to keep his wife safe in the middle of a dangerous and chaotic terrorist atta-"

"Not _Die Hard_!" Lydia snapped. "Something actually romantic, like _Titanic_."

Cari and Kimber both groaned. Cari shook her head emphatically. "Not _Titanic_. I've never seen it and I feel no need to. Plus, the guy dies. What's romantic about that?"

"He sacrifices his life for her safety! It's the most noble and romantic thing anyone could do for the person they love!"

Rolling her eyes, Cari said, "The most romantic and noble thing he could have done was find a way for them both to survive." Seeing that Lydia was getting even more upset, she sighed. "What if I can find a movie that's all about a guy who… He isn't perfect. He's missing a woman in his life, but doesn't even know he's missing her. When he finally finds the woman of his dreams, she's already promised to someone else and he gives her up so that she can be happy. Would you be okay with watching that movie?"

Lydia nodded eagerly. "Of course! That sounds so romantic!"

"Good!" Cari stood, and in a moment of searching, found the disc and started up her movie. The look on Lydia's face when _Shrek_ started playing was utterly priceless. She shrugged. "Okay, so he gets her back in the end. Still noble and romantic of him to give her up in the first place."

"I didn't think you were talking about _Shrek_ , Licaria!"

"Hey, I didn't lie. It is romantic, and it's all about love – and getting back a swamp – so really, I didn't lie to you. Happy Valentine's Day."

With some grumbling on Lydia's part, they sat back and enjoyed the misadventures of the personable green ogre. After a while, they were joined by Eric, Lionel, and Chayton, then Fletchmeister and Jackie, and eventually even Jael and Willa.

When the movie was over, Cari stretched and looked around the room. "I know Tessa and Toby are off being gooey and romantic, but where is Shadow?"

Eric looked unconcerned. "I don't know. He said there was something he had to get done and that he would just see everyone at dinner."

Lionel tipped his head back to rest on the back of the couch. "Ten bucks says he's trying to figure out a way of asking out Arsenic Aguilar."

"No way," Jackie denied. "I bet he's trying to figure out a way to tell her once and for all that they're not going to date."

"Please," Lionel scoffed. "Have you seen her?"

"Gag!" Jael exclaimed. "We've all heard a thousand times how 'hot' she is, but she's a terrible person! That has to count for something."

"It does… eventually," Eric explained. "Right now, he's blinded by the blonde hair and blue eyes. No offense," he added toward Willa. He needn't have bothered; her silvery hair was tucked up into a messy bun, and her blue eyes were free of makeup. The contrast could not have been clearer – and Willa looked far better. "Once he's done being distracted by how she looks, Shadow will come to his senses and realize that she's horrible. Until then, there's nothing any of us can do."

Feeling definitely uncomfortable, Cari avoided eye contact with anyone. She alone knew that Shadow would be moving at the end of the year. Any relationship he had with Arsenia would either be short-term or long-distance. Either way, he wouldn't have the chance to get used to her looks.

"Hey, Cari," Fletchmeister said suddenly. Cari tensed up and looked over at him silently. "You have a watch. What time is it? I'm starving!"

"Big shock," Kimber muttered, making everyone chuckle.

Examining her watch, Cari answered, "It is getting pretty late. Dinner is being served now if we want to head down to the cafeteria."

Apparently, even the kitchens of Echowick were being festive for the romantic holiday. Platters of delicately-roasted salmon were found on the table, as well as rosemary chicken breast and slices of roast beef. Buttered red potatoes were served as a side, along with spinach salad and grilled vegetables.

The entire meal was extremely elegant. Even as several students expressed their awe at the sumptuous table, Fletchmeister groaned. "Really? What's wrong with pizza or burgers or something?"

Jackie sighed. "Don't worry, babe, I think the kitchens know you well enough to have planned ahead."

"What do you me-" Fletchmeister broke off with a gasp as his girlfriend pointed to a plate just in front of his usual seat. There was a small, heart-shaped personal pizza with a side of garlic fries. "The perfect day! This is the perfect day!"

Jackie, looking less-than thrilled at his response, sat down beside him and set a chicken breast on her plate. "I'm so glad the food is the reason today is perfect," she confided to Cari.

"Hey, hey," Fletchmeister chided. "You make every other day perfect. Give pizza a chance for once."

The small smile on Jackie's face gave Cari hope for the two's relationship. Before she could figure out whether to tell Jackie this or not, Shadow walked up to the table. His arms were filled with bright, vibrant flowers. "Happy Valentine's Day! Hang on just a second; I have a different flower for each of the wonderful girls."

Stunned, the students at the table just stared at him as he picked through the stack. "For Jackie, an iris." He gave the startled girl a lovely, powder-blue iris. She accepted it with stunned thanks, touching the petals with a gentle hand.

"A calendula for Tessa." The flower was large and yellow with a deep brown dot in the center, similar in appearance to a daisy. Tessa took it and delicately saluted Shadow with it.

"Lydia gets a geranium," the flower was a bright, eye-catching pink. Lydia immediately lifted it to her nose and hummed her appreciation at the delicate fragrance.

"I have an acacia flower for Kimber." He held out a long branch dotted with delicate yellow blossoms, but pulled it back before Kimber could take it. "Watch out, they have some nasty thorns and I think there might be one or two left on there." Kimber cautiously accepted the flower from him.

"The chrysanthemum is for Jael." The flower was massive, nearly the size of Jael's outspread hand. The petals were white, touched with notes of a delicate green.

"Cari gets the orchid." Shadow held out a gorgeous, dark red orchid. Cari accepted it carefully, idly observing that, graceful and refined, it was the most beautiful flower she had ever seen.

"And finally, for Willa, this is a larkspur." He handed over a tall-stemmed plant with small white flowers growing along to form an almost triangular shape. "And just so you know that I still don't have a crush on you, larkspurs are beautiful but highly poisonous."

"Not as poisonous as, say, arsenic," Jael muttered into her cup as she took a drink. The girls around her snorted.

Toby, slightly red in the face, frowned at Shadow. "Thanks for making some of us look bad."

"Oh, Toby," Tessa chided, "I still love my moly plant. In fact – no offense, Shadow, this flower is lovely – the moly is going to live exponentially longer because it's in a pot and is still growing rather than having been cut."

Toby looked mollified even as Lydia let out a short gasp and hit Cari's arm. "That's right! The moly's already been delivered! I guess your secret admirer didn't send another one after all."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Willa said doubtfully. "Seventh-year approaching, eleven o'clock."

"Is there a Licaria Romana here?" the seventh-year student asked.

Cari raised a hand and accepted the small, white-potted plant, immediately turning it to read the small attached tag.

"So?" Lydia asked eagerly. Who is it from?"

Cari held up one side of the tag to reveal, ' _From your secret admirer'_. Lydia gasped and Cari shook her head. "Don't get too excited before you see the other side." She flipped the tag so that Lydia could read, ' _Just kidding. This is from your father. Happy Valentine's Day!'_

Cari rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and her friends laughed. Was it just her imagination, or did Shadow look excessively relieved?

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, apologies for the ridiculously long chapter. Here's a hint, though: if you were confused by the large amount of flower stuff at the end of the chapter, you might try looking up the meanings of flowers (though there is some disparity between sources). Also, apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Monday kind of snuck up on me and I've been trying to edit this in between waves of craziness at work. Leave a review if you want and I will see you next Monday! Thanks for reading!


	46. March

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials, plots, subplots, characters, settings, etc. Those are all the sole property of J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story. Thank you.

* * *

March

After the stress and hectic pace of Valentine's Day, Echowick seemed to slide right into March. The days weren't really warmer, but they were growing longer and a brighter tinge seemed to be edging the grass around campus. More importantly, spring break was approaching and the students were getting excited. Ideas and plans are thrown around at mealtimes, students discussing what they might do with their families or friends over the mini-vacation. Cari even began to grow eager, wondering if she could possibly convince Daniel and Naomi to take the family somewhere exciting, somewhere other than home.

One Saturday in early March, it seemed she would get the chance to pitch her idea to her father sooner rather than later. A note came to her from Professor Fleet, asking her to meet Daniel in the library. _Your father said that it shouldn't take very long; he just needs to speak with you briefly._

It wasn't as if Cari had much else going on, so with a short explanation to Lydia, she started off across the grounds toward the library. She found Daniel easily enough, seated at one of the tables with two gas station soft drinks in front of him. With a sense of déjà vu, she settled into the seat across from him. "Hey, Dad," she greeted, taking a swig of her soda.

"Hi, Cari," he returned, sitting forward with twinkling eyes. "Did you get the plant?"

Cari chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Everyone freaked out about the 'secret admirer' thing until I showed them what the other side said."

Daniel let out a loud, appreciative laugh. Several of the students in the library looked over curiously and the librarian gave them a disapproving stare. In a much softer tone, he said, "I'm glad; that was my plan. So, I'm sure you're wondering what I needed to talk to you about…"

"Before you say anything," Cari cut in, "What do you think about actually going somewhere for spring break this year? I know that Mom's break is the same time, and Byron's is, too." Daniel shifted in his seat, an uncomfortable look crossing his face. "It doesn't have to be expensive, Dad. Just something different, something other than just sitting around the house. Please?"

"Cari, I don't think you should come home for the break this year."

She knew her father was serious, but couldn't help saying, "Okay, fine. I guess we don't have to go somewhere."

Daniel watched her silently, face disapproving. "Licaria, I am being serious."

"I know," she admitted, looking down at the table for a moment before glancing back up at him. "Why can't I come home? I assume there's a particular reason."

It was Daniel's turn to stare at the surface of the table. Cari was halfway through taking another sip of her soda by the time he spoke. "You were right; Byron's powers are getting stronger. Lately, he's started to pick up memories or thoughts from your mother and even me at times. That shouldn't be happening."

He cleared his throat, looking across the table at his daughter. "I'm not a strong magic-user. You know this, but I haven't told you that I am particularly strong in one area: Occlumency. I've always been skilled at it, even before I had any formal training. Since it was the one discipline I was actually good at, I focused a lot of time on honing my skills." Daniel seemed to shake himself. "What I'm getting at is that Byron shouldn't be able to pull from my head. I've been told that my mental shields are remarkably strong, even when I am asleep."

Dying to ask why this meant she couldn't come home, Cari forced herself to look sympathetic. "So he really shouldn't be able to do what he's doing. Have you figured out any way to stop him, or at least keep him from remembering what he does read from you?"

"No, and that's why I'm telling you all of this." Daniel sighed, raking a hand through his thick, dark hair. "If Byron is able to pick things up from me with my Occlumency training, he will have no trouble at all reading you. It's a risk, a big one, and one I'm not sure we should be taking. It might be better for everyone if you stay here at Echowick for spring break. What do you think about it?"

Cari struggled internally for a moment. _It's his lie that's keeping everything on such a delicate balance. Why should I have to suffer just because he doesn't want Mom to find out that his life – and their marriage – is a lie?_ Reaching with a slightly-shaking hand, Cari grabbed her soda and took a sip. _Of course, it'll give me more time to work on the broom. And I really don't want Byron to pull that from me and tell someone about it. It isn't too late for him to shut down my whole project…_

Setting the Styrofoam cup back on the table, Cari shrugged. "If it would make things easier, I could stay here. I always get a lot more finals studying done here, anyway."

Daniel's brow furrowed. "Studying? You're already studying for your finals?"

"Dad," Cari sighed, fighting back an eye-roll. "Finals really aren't that far away, and I need to get as much studying in as possible. Besides, what else am I going to do around here for a week by myself?"

That tipped the scales, guilt breaking across Daniel's face. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, Cari. If you want me to try and figure something else out before then, I can work on it. Or you could come home and we'll just hope that Byron doesn't get anything from you."

Cari shook her head, keeping her voice nonchalant. "Nah, don't worry about it. Besides, spring break starts in like, a week. You would be scrambling to think up any kind of plan before then, and I'm not going to sleep with tinfoil wrapped around my head." Her father gave a soft chuckle and Cari grinned at him, raising a finger in mock-warning. "But you better figure something out before summer vacation! I don't think they'll let me stay here, no matter what's going on at home."

"I promise you, Licaria, I will find a way to fix this before then." Rather than lighten the mood, Cari's joke had put a serious glint in Daniel's eyes.

She stood, gathering her messenger bag and soda cup. "Well, thanks for the soda and the Valentine's plant, but I'd better be getting back now."

Daniel rose as well, giving Cari a tight hug. "All right. I'm glad you liked your plant, and thank you for being understanding about the whole situation. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you before too long. Love you."

"Love you too, Dad," Cari returned, kissing her father on the cheek. With a small wave, she walked out of the library and back across campus, letting the disappointment wash over her. She had truly been looking forward to getting back home for a little while, seeing her mother and brother. She knew her father's worries were valid and couldn't fault him for keeping her away until a better plan could be thought up, but it still sucked to be stuck at Echowick.

When she arrived at the apartment, there was a note from Lydia on their bedroom door, letting her know that everyone was upstairs in the student lounge, playing Exploding Snap. Cari started up the stairs to join them, shaking her head as she thought about how much money this group spent on buying the cards necessary for all of their games.

"Hey, Cari," Lydia greeted, unable to tear her eyes from the intense match going on between Eric and Jackie. "What did your dad need?"

"Oh, nothing really," she answered casually, hoping to avoid a pity party, especially of the self-thrown variety.

"I didn't know they called people to the library to talk about nothing. I need to get in on that," Chayton said with a grin from his usual armchair.

"No, seriously," Kimber interjected, "What happened?"

Keeping her voice light, Cari said, "There's just some family stuff going on at home. Nothing too dramatic, but my dad told me it would be better if I spend spring break here instead."

"Wow," Jael commented. "That's horrible. If you need somewhere to stay, you can always come to stay with me and my family. I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind. Willa's always there half the time anyway."

"Thanks for the offer, seriously, but there's a lot I should be doing around here."

"That's true," Shadow said from across the room. "There's always a ton of half-finished projects going on around here. I think I'll stay, too."

Cari shot a half-glare over at him. "If you're only doing this because you feel sorry for me, don't. I don't need a Thanksgiving break, part two."

Shadow pulled back, looking affronted. "Two things: one, I enjoy our Thanksgiving tradition. I don't think anyone stays and participates because they feel sorry for you, Romana. Two, I'm being serious about having things to work on around here. I have a project due at the end of the year for a magically-assisted building simulation and I'm not even halfway done. Don't be oversensitive."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room. Tessa cleared her throat. "Well, this is awkward. Jackie, Eric, blow up some cards so there's a little bit of noise in here."

Obligingly, the two players set up the game so it would be more high-stakes, either blowing up none of the cards or all of them. Lydia snuck up behind Eric at a pivotal moment, grabbing his shoulders and letting out a high-pitched scream. Eric was startled enough that he dropped his wand, and as he scrambled to pick it up again, time ran out and the whole game exploded in his face.

He grumbled as everyone laughed, twisting to glare threateningly at Lydia. "I'll get you back, Abrams. You be ready."

She grinned. "I'd like to see you try, Wilkerson."

Shaking her head at her friends' antics, Cari went downstairs again. There were a few tweaks to the broomstick that needed to be added to the blueprints before she could forget them. To her displeasure, Shadow followed her down.

Before he could say anything, she turned and bluntly told him, "Listen Shadow, I'm sorry I snapped at you back there."

He nodded at the brief apology. "Honestly, I wasn't upset or anything. But it does bother me that you think we just started staying around her at Thanksgiving because we feel sorry for you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Can you really say that wasn't at least part of the reason that the tradition got started?"

Shadow pulled a hand nervously over the back of his hair while she stared at him. He sighed, admitting, "Okay, that may have been _part_ of the reason at the very beginning. But it was never the only reason, and now it really is a fun, awesome tradition that all of us really enjoy. But I don't know why it bothers you so much. No one should have to spend a holiday alone, and we would be pretty crappy friends if we let it happen anyway."

"It means a lot, Shadow. It really does. But that doesn't mean you have to hang out here for spring break. It isn't a holiday, I really do have a lot of work to finish, and you shouldn't give up the time with your family. I mean, we've all heard about your plans for the vacation. Do you want to give all of that up just to hang around Echowick?"

"For the love of Merlin, Cari!" Shadow snapped. Shocked, Cari could only stare up at him. "I don't care about my plans. My family will be there for summer vacation and we'll do whatever we want to then. That doesn't mean I should abandon you to stay here by yourself."

"But Shadow, there's not going to be anything going on-"

"You know what, Romana?" Shadow asked, tilting his head challengingly to the side. "I just decided that I'm definitely staying here after all. You can stay away from me; choose not to spend time with me, whatever it takes to convince you that I'm not just staying here because I pity you. If, on the other hand, you decide that you want to hang out and enjoy the week off, I'll be around."

With that, he turned and walked pleasantly over to his apartment door, all traces of frustration gone as he disappeared inside. Cari shook her head, muttering, "Well, that was psychotic. Even for a kid named Shadow."

* * *

The rest of the time until spring break seemed to fly by. Quidditch wouldn't start back up until after the students were back from their week-long vacation, but Cari still had to spend every Sunday out on the pitch with Professor Gregory, working on her flight skills as well as her understanding of the game. It was hard work, but with every infrequent and grudgingly-given compliment, her confidence soared anew and she left the muddy field with a bright grin on her face.

However hard she worked on the weekends, the professors made sure that the weekdays were three times as difficult. Cari thought she had been exaggerating when she told her father that it was never too soon to begin preparing for finals, but the teachers seemed to be deeply convinced of its truth. They had given out more chapter reading assignments than they had all year – even in mostly practical classes like Herbology and Survival – corresponding with huge packets of bookwork or 'guided study exercises' the students had to complete. Students of all ages were seen trekking back and forth across campus to the library, each lugging a huge armful of books. The library was more crowded than Cari had seen it during all of her time at Echowick and would have wondered about the sudden increase if she had a moment to spare.

With all of the work, she rarely saw her friends, excepting the ones she lived with. Of course, this wasn't exactly a bad thing for the most part. Cari's friends were being marvelously awkward ever since she had delivered her news and subsequently fought with Shadow. Any conversations about spring break countdowns or plans were cut short with obvious glances and head-motions toward Cari. She thought about telling them not to bother, but decided there was more entertainment to be gained by simply letting them continue to be strange. _Besides, they'll be gone soon._

As in times before, Professor Fleet opened the huge fireplace in the cafeteria to be used for Floo access by parents and guardians, or by unaccompanied students over the age of 18. Cari sat in the large room with her friends, waiting for their parents and listening to the grumbles of jealousy about these students who were able to travel alone.

Cari had expected to be sad or disappointed, upset at the thought of being left behind as her friends went home for a week of relaxation and family time, but she found herself extremely distracted instead. It was Friday the thirteenth of March, and though she remembered her classmates in younger years being nervous that day, she would have sworn it would be a Muggle thing. Surely wizards were far too knowledgeable about actual magic and jinxes to get nervous.

This was not so. It seemed that everywhere she looked in the room, there was a witch or wizard standing carefully in the middle of a stone square – never on the cracks – clutching a rabbit's foot or lucky coin. Cari thought privately that, if someone were to stand a ladder up or bring a black cat inside, everyone in the room would have gone into a sheer panic.

Finally, she brought this up to Lydia, who nodded shrewdly. "Yeah, the wizarding world is really strange about the whole 'Friday the thirteenth' thing. There are a couple of different theories about why, but I won't bore you with the details."

As Lydia spoke, her gaze roved around the room, obviously distracted as she searched for any sign of her parents. Cari cleared her throat. "Since when have I ever been bored by detailed theories? Explain, please."

Her roommate sighed resignedly. "Fine. There are some wizards who believe that Friday the thirteenth is a magical day, like the solstices or Halloween, when doing magic is easier and even the weakest wizard can make a spell more powerful than the strongest can on any other day. Then there are people like me who believe that it started as a prank."

Cari wasn't following. "A prank?"

"Yeah, like April Fool's Day. There's nothing saying that anyone is going to pull a prank on you, but you're still on edge all day. I think that enough people started to jinx other wizards on Friday the thirteenths, even harmlessly, and it caught on. After a while, it became expected that you were going to be jinxed and it made everyone nervous. That's why you see so many people walking around carrying good luck charms."

Personally, Cari felt that Lydia had it right, but thought she would ask while the subject was open, "And what about rabbits' feet? Are they actually lucky?"

Lydia stared at her like Cari had started babbling utter nonsense. "If they have a luck charm put on them, they are. Only for a little while, of course, but they're still effective for that time. Without spells, charms, or potions? No. Rabbits aren't magic. You should really know this already, Cari."

Before Cari could defend herself, Lydia was shooting across the room, running until she could nestle firmly against the chest of a tall, gray-haired man wearing an extremely nice set of dress robes. "Daddy! Come here, I want you to meet my roommate!"

"Of course, Lydia," he said agreeably, following Lydia back over to the table where Cari was still sitting.

"Daddy, this is my roommate, Licaria. Cari, this is my father, William Abrams the third." Cari stared up at the imposing man. She knew that wizards didn't often shake hands, but couldn't stop herself, especially since she didn't know what else to do.

"It's lovely to meet you, sir," she said, offering the traitorous hand.

Mr. Abrams looked as though he had barely stopped from raising an eyebrow. Instead, he smiled tightly, barely brushed Cari's hand, and said gallantly, "The pleasure is mine, Miss..?"

"Romana," Cari answered, forcing herself to meet his gaze squarely, without waver or blush.

"Indeed," he said inscrutably, rubbing his hand subtly against the material of his robes. She watched the motion with narrowed eyes and he stopped abruptly. "Are you ready to leave, Lydia?"

"Yes, just let me grab my bag." Thankfully, the bag in question was just under the table. Cari desperately didn't want to be left alone with Lydia's potentially blood-purist father.

"Bye, Cari!" she exclaimed, giving Cari a tight hug. Mr. Abrams stiffened like someone had just dropped an ice cube down the back of his shirt as Lydia took advantage of their closeness to hiss in Cari's ear, "I want to hear everything about all of your alone time with a certain boy of our mutual acquaintance."

Cari grinned. "I promise. Have fun this week!" She waved to her roommate as she and her aristocratic father disappeared in a flash of green flame.

Before long, the cafeteria had emptied out and Cari knew what she had to do. Breathing deeply, she marched straight to the third-year Physical Wing apartments and knocked firmly on Shadow's door. He answered a heart-poundingly long time later. "Romana," he greeted coolly. "Did you need something?"

She sighed. He was not going to make this easy. "Want to hang out?"

"I don't know…" he trailed, staring at the wall of the hallway behind her. "I'm pretty busy with like, schoolwork and stuff." Cari stared at him, unamused. He was obviously making fun of her and she wasn't going to give him any extra ammunition. After a minute of her gaze, Shadow reached out, knocking her gently in the shoulder as he grinned. "I'm just messing with you. What did you have in mind?"

Cari shrugged. "Nothing much. I just didn't want you to think I was sulking in my apartment. Anything you want to do?"

"Not really." He looked down at his bare feet. "But I bet I'll need shoes either way. Hang on, let me grab a pair." Shadow retreated inside his apartment, leaving the door open behind him. Cari nearly followed him inside, but stopped short at the sight of the mess inside. _Boys,_ she thought in disgust.

They ended up, shockingly, sitting in the student lounge watching movies. Shadow insisted on choosing the movie, but when _Titanic_ started to play, she groaned. "No. I refuse. I will not watch this."

"You have to! Lydia told me you've never seen it and to get you to watch it if I could." He shuddered. "I do not want to make that witch angry."

"So, we'll say that you got me to watch it and we can watch something else."

He gaped. "But what are you going to do if she asks your favorite part or something? She'll know that you didn't actually watch it."

Cari raised an eyebrow, crossing arms over her chest. "Will she? Come on, Shadow, I do go on the internet. I know just about every major part of that movie, more than enough to fake a 'favorite part'. Why would I ever need to waste the time actually watching it?"

"Fine," he admitted grudgingly. "Pick a movie. Please make it something better than _Titanic_."

Knowing exactly which movie she would go for, Cari eagerly stopped _Titanic_ , grabbed a new disk, and put it in. When _Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring_ started up, Shadow turned to stare at her, the shock apparent on his face mixed with an unreadable expression. When he finally spoke, it was to say, "I love you."

"I know," she answered, unable to resist the call of a _Star Wars_ quote. As Shadow continued to gape, she grinned, "How could you not love me? Saving you from watching a three-hour romance by making you watch a slightly longer movie about hobbits, elves, and battles between good and evil? I love me, too!"

Of course, with such a glorious movie series and a golden opportunity with no one else in the student lounge, they soon decided that a marathon was in order. In the stack of school-owned movies, Cari and Shadow found the extended edition of _The Two Towers_ and decided to start it just after dinner, followed by _Return of the King_ if possible – especially since there was virtually no curfew with so many students gone from Echowick, including Wing Leader Asher Phillips.

Unfortunately, full from the large dinner and lulled to sleep by the moments of quiet intensity accompanied by a soothing soundtrack, Cari fell asleep at the very beginning of the four-hour movie. She slept until the battle at Helm's Deep, when the orc army broke through the line of men. Cari's eyes fluttered open slowly, surprised both by the lateness in the movie plot and the way she was lounging comfortably on the couch. _Weren't Frodo and Sam just climbing into the canyon..?_

She turned slightly and found that she was lying propped against Shadow's chest. He was asleep as well, one arm resting behind her back on the couch. _Oops. I didn't mean to sleep on him,_ she thought, somewhere between amused and embarrassed. Gingerly, she pushed herself up to sit at her previous spot on the other end of the couch. The movement woke Shadow and she grinned over at him. "Can't stay awake, Shadow?"

He scoffed. "That's rich coming from the girl who fell asleep during the opening credits!"

"Yeah," she agreed unrepentantly. "When did you pass out?"

"Um… just after Treebeard showed up."

Cari groaned. "Okay, so I've been asleep for about two and half hours and you've had a solid one and a half or two. Should we stop here or start it over?"

Shadow gave her a look insinuating that she had lost her mind. "Start it over, obviously."

"Well, excuse me!" she sassed jokingly as she restarted the movie. When she settled back on the couch, they got distracted since both had already seen the beginning.

Somewhere in the middle of a conversation about the movie, the topic changed to secrets. "I don't like secrets, Cari," Shadow admitted. "I think it's better to have everything out in the open; say what needs to be said, you know?"

"You're right," she agreed, nodding. "No matter how uncomfortable it might be, or how much you worry about ruining a friendship."

"Exactly! With that in mind, I think there's something we both know I need to say."

"It's about time!" she encouraged, making serious eye contact with her friend. "You really need to tell everyone that you're leaving Echowick in May."

"Lea- Of course. I should tell people that I'm leaving." Shadow sighed heavily and ruffled his hair. "The thing is, there's a bit of a snag with the transfer stuff."

"You mean you might not go after all?" she asked, trying to conceal the eagerness in her voice.

"No, it just means that I might have to transfer to the French school and spend all summer in intensive French lessons with my mother."

"Oh. Well, what's wrong with the original school?"

Shadow shrugged. "No one will really say for sure, but my dad thinks that there might be something bad happening over there. He's heard a lot about a crop of Mandrakes they need and how they're growing some but would buy them from someone if there were any ready…" He trailed off as Cari watched him in confusion. "Mandrakes are used for a couple of different potions, all used to treat things that are pretty serious. Dad thinks that there might be some kind of magical illness outbreak. If it's cleared up by the end of the year, I can still go there, but if not… French school it is."

Cari sat in silence, taking a few moments to watch the movie before she worked up the nerve to say something else that had been bothering her for quite some time. "If you really are leaving, there's something you need to do first." He looked over at her, eyebrows raised. "You either need to date Arsenia or tell her it's never going to happen."

"I'm sorry?"

She sighed. "If you guys are going to date and try to make it work long distance, it'll be easier if you have some time being a couple in-person first. And if you're not going to date her after all, it's horrible to keep her around." Cari interrupted before he could say anything. "I know she's 'hot'. All the guys are dying of jealousy that she's spending time with you, but you can't just waste her time because you think she's pretty but would never date her."

Shadow sighed again. "You're right, Cari. It's not even that I think she's that pretty…" Cari made a disbelieving noise and he grinned. "Okay, she is pretty, but I just don't want to hurt her feelings by shutting her down, you know? I understand why Niccolo pushed her off on me last year. It would just be so much easier."

"I know, but I also don't think she should just be pushed from person to person. She deserves an honest explanation from someone, even if it's hard to say."

He looked surprised. "I didn't know you liked Arsenia so much."

It was Cari's turn to scoff. "I don't; I can't stand her. But wrong is wrong."

"Okay, sure. Hey, how's the broomstick coming?"

"Shadow!" He looked over at her blankly. "The broomstick is great, I'll even take you to see it tomorrow, but watch the freaking movie before we have to start it over again!"

He held his hands up in surrender and they watched in silence for a while. About twenty minutes later, Shadow leaned over and muttered, "Did you hear they're talking about making a movie version of _The Hobbit_?"

Earlier lecture forgotten, Cari pulled her leg up to sit sideways on the couch, staring intently at Shadow. "No way! Are they really? Is Ian McKellan coming back? Do you think they'll still have the original characters? At least, the ones who are actually in _The Hobbit_."

Shadow looked taken aback for a second, but smiled softly at her. "I have no idea, but I'll tell you what: I promise if and when it comes out, we'll see it together." She raised a skeptical brow at him and he leaned forward. "Seriously, I promise! I'll Floo to you and we'll go to the movies, just you and me." In his sincerity, he reached out and covered Cari's hand with his.

She smiled over at him. "Okay, it's a deal. But you better actually show! I'll be upset if you make me watch _The Hobbit_ alone."

"I promise."

* * *

Author's Note \- This slightly-off time frame is a little confusing and I'm sorry. For anyone else who's feeling a little lost or is just joining us and skimmed through the previous author's notes, in this chapter, the year is 2009. Cari is technically in the year ahead of Harry and Co, which means that this is set during Harry's second year, hence the allusions to the Chamber and Petrified students. Now that I've turned all of my subtext into text, thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed. I want to give a quick shout-out to my TWO (seriously excited about that!) reviewers from last week: SB- Potterhead Budgie Lover and Ashes-To-Diamonds. You guys are too sweet! For everyone else, if you feel like leaving a review, I promise that it'll mean ridiculously much to me and make my whole week. No pressure, of course. Thanks again for reading and I hope you all have an absolutely fantastic day!


	47. Coming Clean

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, materials, etc. Any non-original elements of this story belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Coming Clean

"You WHAT?!" Lydia shrieked, disbelief and excitement on her face.

Resisting the urge to rub her ears, Cari shushed her friend. "I guess I kinda-sorta accidentally held Shadow's hand."

"As you watched a movie together. Alone in the dark. Planning a future date."

"Yeah…"

"And what, might I ask, did you do with the rest of the week?" Lydia asked, trying to sound disinterested and failing magnificently.

"You know, just hung out. Watched a few more movies, talked a lot, played some card games… Whatever we felt like doing that day, really. Why?"

Lydia shook her head appreciatively. "Well, you're not fast, but you sure get them in the end, don't you, Cari?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know. You and Shadow have been going back and forth since first year. Finally, you're both on the same page and you can start going out."

Cari narrowed her eyes and held out a hand. "That might be going a bit far. I mean, I think. I don't- I'm not sure if anything else is-" She sighed. "I don't know what is going to happen. I'm all confused… What?"

Lydia was looking like she wanted to punch Cari in the face. "You're not confused, Cari! You're scared. It's not the same thing."

"Scared? I am not scared. I just don't know what I want yet." Lydia made a skeptical face and Cari quickly added, "Plus, I'm really busy with all of my classes, especially the Broomsmith ones, and Quidditch is coming up soon… There are just too many things going on right now, too many factors in play, you know?" Cari realized that she was babbling, but couldn't make herself stop.

Nodding knowingly, Lydia asked, "Is one of those factors Arsenia?"

"No, I told him that he needed to either date her or break things off completely."

"And..?"

Cari shrugged. "Shadow made it sound like he was going to tell her he's not interested."

Lydia thrust her arms victoriously into the air. "You go, Cari! Tell me, was that little conversation before or after you cuddled?"

Giving up, Cari turned and left the apartment, shaking her head over her roommate's antics. "What a freaking weirdo…" she muttered to herself.

"I'm sorry?"

She whirled around to find Shadow leaving his apartment as well, a quizzical expression on his face. "Not you," she explained hurriedly. "I was just talking about… It doesn't matter."

He looked even more confused by this explanation. "Uh, okay. Where are you headed?"

The door to Cari's apartment pulled open and Lydia appeared in the open doorway. "Look, Cari. I'm sorry. I was just messing around."

"Hey, Lydia," Shadow greeted as Cari stifled a groan.

Lydia leaned sideways to peer behind Cari. "Oh, Shadow! Sorry, I didn't see you there." She let out a truly evil cackle. "Like I said, Romana. You take a while to get started, but once you're moving, you get them pretty good."

"I'm sorry?" Shadow asked again, sounding thoroughly confused.

Lydia laughed, but Cari just held her hands out to stop the other girl. "You know what? I'm done. Today's a bust. I need to go to the Quidditch pitch."

"Good idea. It's a really nice day. I'll go with you if you don't mind the company," Shadow volunteered, an eager smile on his face.

Cari couldn't bring herself to shoot down his offer and nodded slightly. "That sounds like a plan," she agreed, pointedly ignoring the wide grin on Lydia's face as the girl slowly backed through the door again. Cari added to Shadow, "You don't have to walk the whole way up there with me, though. It's a little out of the way if there's nothing you need to do up there."

He shrugged. "Like I said, it's a nice day out." Shadow smiled over at her. "I had a lot of fun over spring break, Cari. I know you probably already know that, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't still feel like it was charity."

She blushed a little about her ungracious show of temper when Shadow had first offered to stay. "Sorry again about that." He waved her off and she couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from tipping up. "I had a lot of fun, too, by the way."

He gently bumped his shoulder against hers. "Yeah, well… How can you not have fun when the week kicks off with a Lord of the Rings marathon? I know how to treat a lady!" He puffed out his chest proudly.

Cari huffed loudly at him. "You didn't pick _Fellowship_ , I did! You were the one who's like, 'Let's watch _Titanic_! Let's watch _Titanic_!" He looked over and she crossed her eyes at him.

Shadow burst out laughing at her expression and they walked on in a comfortable silence. _This is more like it_ , Cari thought. _When I'm not getting in my own way, Shadow really is a lot of fun to be around._ She frowned. _Am I starting to like him? Really like him?_

"Hey, hey," Shadow said sharply. After her feet touched ground again, Cari whipped her head around to look up at him worriedly. He motioned at a variety of places on her face. "What's with the face? Everything okay?"

 _I always forget how observant he is…_ Cari decided to play it off as a joke, pressing a palm flat to her chest. "It was until you gave me a heart attack! What is wrong with you? Are you trying to kill me?"

He laughed softly. "Definitely not." Glancing back in front of them, he stopped, gesturing for her to keep going. "I think this will have to be where I leave you. Off-duty Quidditch players being on the pitch and all of that."

"Ah," Cari nodded understandingly. "Well, thank you for the company. I'll see you later!"

"Wait, is that all I get? I just walked you all the way up to the pitch. Don't I at least get a hug?"

Cari pretended to think it over, tapping her chin carefully. "Hmm… Nah." He played at looking insulted and turned to leave, adding sassily over a shoulder, "Like you said, it's a nice day out."

"Fine, but you owe me!"

Cari just laughed as she hurried onto the pitch. She was actually running a bit late now, thanks to the conversation with Lydia and meandering with Shadow. She wasn't worried, however, more like she was relaxed after the walk with Shadow. Her insides were warmed by their interaction and she grew aware of a goofy smile on her face. _Crap. I am starting to like him._ She wasn't relaxed anymore.

The best answer she could come up without a lengthy brainstorming session was to focus all of her attention on improving her flight methods and knowledge of Quidditch in general. She apologized to Professor Gregory at the broom shed, grabbed her usual broom, and stepped only inches outside the door before she climbed onto the broom and kicked off. Normally, when Cari flew, it felt like she had literally left her troubles on the ground where she kicked off. They would be waiting when she came back, but for a few blissful minutes, it was just joy. This time, she still carried a weight with her. The warmth in her chest had turned into a prickly, burning thing stopping her from taking a full breath.

Half an hour later, Cari drew an arm across her sweat-covered forehead. "What was that, Romana?" Professor Gregory demanded.

Tired, confused, and soaking wet, Cari glared, voice coming out harsher than she had intended. "I don't know, Professor, but I'm sure you're going to tell me!"

"Watch yourself, Romana," he warned, somehow spiraling Cari's mood deeper into the black fog that threatened to ruin her day. "You were just hovering there, staring off into space and not paying any attention at all. If this were a real match, I could have fouled twelve times by now and you wouldn't have caught a single one!"

Frustrated even further now, Cari whacked her broomstick with an open palm. To her alarm, it gave a slight warning buzz. "What, now you're going to be mad at me, too? Joke's on you. You're just a broom!" It buzzed harder and she sighed. "Fine, I guess I'm sorry." _Now I'm apologizing to a broom?_

"Romana, you just did it again!"

Cari wheeled around on the broom – which had apparently started to accept her apology – and glared at Professor Gregory. "I'm not going to take responsibility for that one! My broom was acting stupid!" The flying device in question dipped sharply and dangerously. When she had managed to wrestle it back into submission, she shook her head at her teacher. "You know what? I'm done for the day. I'm sorry."

She landed smoothly and approached the broom shed with rapid steps. When Cari set her broomstick back on its stand a little too roughly, the broom fell out onto the floor with a loud noise. She stooped to pick it up, slamming it back into the stand. As she turned to walk away, it flew out again, more forcefully this time, managing to come into contact with her head on its way to the ground.

"Ouch!" Cari cried, pressing a hand to the back of her head. The pent-up anger and irritation hit a breaking point, but came out of Cari as a flood of tears. To her mortification, as she sat crying on the floor of the broom shed, Professor Gregory followed her inside.

Shockingly, he stood in silence for a moment. When he finally did speak, it was in an oddly gentle tone, a complete change from his earlier barking attitude. "Miss Romana, may I ask what is the matter?"

"I'd rather you didn't," she replied in a chokingly husky, thick-sounding voice.

"Miss Romana, this is highly unusual behavior for you. I'm afraid I must insist on an explanation."

"And I'm afraid I must insist on my privacy, Professor. I'm just having a bad day."

"Ah," he sighed understandingly. She could tell from the direction his voice came from that he had sat on the floor as well. "You know, I've found over the years that even the worst day can seem better if you share its troubles."

Cari sighed. She knew how stubborn Professor Gregory got when he was like this. "Everything is changing and it makes me uncomfortable. Happy?"

The Professor's voice grew oddly stilted. "I hope you mean social changes. Because if you're talking about physical changes, I'm fairly certain this conversation is illegal."

"Professor! Of course I mean social changes! Gross." She couldn't help but chuckle a little about his horrified tone, though the sound was accompanied by sniffles.

"Oh. Good. I'm sure it just seems like a lot is changing. Care to elaborate?"

Cari twisted around from her seat on the floor, sighing as she leaned back against the nearby wall. "Not really. I mean, thanks for wanting to help, but it's a lot of really personal stuff. One of the less-private issues is that one of my best friends – the first friend I made at Echowick, actually – is moving away at the end of the year."

"I see," Professor Gregory said solemnly. "That's one of the ways the wizarding excels beyond that of the Muggles: the Floo Network is a marvelous invention and allows for visits even when the distance would otherwise be too great."

She nodded, but the reminder of how far away Shadow would be was not comforting. "I guess that's something, Professor, but it's no substitute for seeing him every day, you know?"

His voice was soft as he said, "I know the situation is less than ideal, but sometimes, even a change that seems like it's bad can be used to make something good happen." He stood awkwardly, brushing dirt from his jeans. "I'm sure that's exactly what you wanted to hear, right? That made it all better? If you tell me it did, this conversation can end now."

Cari grinned. "Well, in that case, I feel completely better, Professor Gregory. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom."

The Broomsmith professor scowled at his student playfully even as he helped her get to her feet. "Laying it on a bit thick now, Miss Romana."

Professor Gregory stowed his broom in the broom rack, locked the door behind them, and walked with Cari back down to the main building. Just before he split off to return to Building 7, Cari said, "Professor? Honestly, thank you. It means a lot to have someone around who's willing to help."

"It's my pleasure, Miss Romana!" he beamed. "And I'll take any chance I get to spread my pseudo-mentor babble around. It's good practice in case I become important someday."

"Merlin help us…" Cari muttered and waved goodbye.

* * *

It took more effort than was pretty, but Cari managed to keep her concentration fully on the Academics vs. Physical match rather than on any one player. Even so, she seemed to be hyper-aware of Shadow's every move, audibly gasping when he pulled a dangerous stunt – something he did more often than she had ever noticed. She would have to stare intently at one of the Keepers until her heart rate returned to normal.

When the game finally ended with a surprising Academics Team win, Cari was only too glad to touch down once more. Being a referee when Shadow was playing was almost more than her heart could take. Not only did Shadow take incredible risks, but those risks almost always panned out well for him and the Physical Team as a whole. Every painful pounding of her heart came with the reminder that Shadow moving away only made sense. He was far too phenomenal a Quidditch-player to be trapped in a small school like Echowick. _Too bad that doesn't make it easier._

"Romana! Hello?" A hand waved in front of Cari's face, snapping her away from the bleak thoughts filling her head. She blinked and pushed Shadow's hand away. He grinned. "Awestruck by my amazing skills today?" He pushed hair off his forehead, gazing dramatically out onto the pitch. "It was a great match, if I do say so myself."

"Really? If it was so great, how did the Academics Team beat you guys into a pulp?" The question didn't come from Cari, but Tessa as the regular group made their way across the pitch.

Unfazed by the insult, Shadow grinned. "Because, as good as I am, I can't play as my own team. It's against the rules, I've checked."

Tessa shook her head, smiling nevertheless. Everyone congratulated Shadow on how well he had done and how many points he had scored. Shadow was halfway through a complicated explanation about some maneuver he had pulled when a slender figure barreled through the group, pushing people aside roughly. Willa was even knocked to the ground.

Chayton and Fletchmeister helped her stand, touching the girl gingerly since she was now coated in an impressively-thick layer of mud. Before Cari had really figured out what was happened, Jael was threatening to hit Arsenia. Arsenia, for her part, was standing with her arms entwined around Shadow's torso, clinging to him as though she wanted his protection. Her face, however, was smug, without an ounce of fear. Jael moved forward, already cocking an arm back, but Eric caught her, hauling her away before a fight could actually break out.

"What are you doing?" she screeched. "If anyone deserves to be beaten, it's her! You saw what she did, and you know it was on purpose! She has it out for Willa!"

"I know that," Cari heard Eric say, matter-of-factly. "Everyone knows that. But you'll get in trouble if you hit her and then she really wins."

"I'm fairly certain it was an accident," Willa argued. "I should have been more aware of my surroundings."

"As long as you realize that," Arsenia sneered. Jael fought against Eric's hold, calling the older girl a truly nasty name. Arsenia gasped, looking up at Shadow with a hurt expression on her face. "Are you really going to let your friends talk to me like that? When I've gone out of my way to be nice to them?"

Even well-mannered Jackie let out a snort at the audacious lie and Arsenia glared. Shadow sighed. "Arsenia, we need to talk in private."

"Of course, darling," she sighed, fluttering her lashes up at him. "Whatever about?"

"There's a conversation we've needed to have for a long time now." Before Shadow led the girl away, he studied Cari's face. She kept an intentionally-blank expression. Whatever Shadow decided to do, the choice had to be his and no one else's.

When they had left, Chayton let out a low whistle. "What do you think he's going to do?"

"I'm not sure…" Kimber trailed before rolling her eyes. "What I can't figure out is why she thinks any of us are interested in dating Shadow anyway.

Lydia cleared her throat pointedly, tipping her head to point at Cari. Everyone stared at her for a moment before she explained, "I can't say for sure about wanting to date Shadow, but I do know that Cari is way closer to him than Arsenia will ever be."

"What does that mean?" "Is that true, Romana?" "Are you guys going to start dating?"

Cari tried to shake off the questions, but they kept up. Finally, she shrugged, trying not to pay overly much attention to the distant spot where Shadow was standing, beginning his talk with Arsenia. "He's either going to ask her out or get rid of her. I'm not sure which. None of the rest of the situation is anyone's business."

"My vote is to get rid of her." Something about the gleeful tone in Jael's voice drew the attention of the group away from Cari.

Awkwardly, Toby said, "Um, Jael, you know that by 'get rid of her', they mean to tell her she can't spend time with our social group any more, right? There's no chance Shadow is going to permanently 'get rid of her'."

"Pity," the fierce girl said simply. "I would help, you know. Do you think that would change Shadow's mind about the whole thing?"

"It would definitely be something to tell him," Fletchmeister encouraged with a wide grin. "In fact, I'm sure he would really get a kick out of it if you did. But make sure you whisper it. Preferably in a shadowy room or at least a really creepy voice. I would pay you."

Everyone laughed at Fletchmeister's general strangeness. It was a necessary distraction, as deep down, everyone knew that the dynamic of the social group was about to change. If Shadow decided to date Arsenia, she would be around a lot more often, or Shadow would have to divide his precious remaining time at Echowick between his friends and his girlfriend. _Of course, no one else knows that he has so little time left,_ Cari reflected, frustrated. _Why does Shadow have so many secrets?_

Finally, there was a development in the conversation all of the group was raptly watching – despite the lack of sound. Arsenia reached up and slapped Shadow sharply across the face before turning and stomping away from him. Her face crumpled when she was a few paces away and the stomping turned to running. For some utterly strange, perverse reason, Cari felt sorry for the girl. Yes, Arsenia was horrible, but that didn't mean it was easy for her to have her heart broken. The pitying thoughts faded quickly, however, as she shot everyone a poisonous glare as she sprinted by.

Shadow walked back to the spot the rest of the group stood, looking somber as he absently held his reddening cheek. The girls all murmured sympathetically – except for Jael, for obvious reasons – while most of the guys applauded him. He shook his head wearily. "That was awful. How do people do this all the time?"

"To be fair, it's easier if you catch it in the beginning and not lead her on for almost a year," Eric pointed out.

Shockingly, that didn't seem to cheer Shadow up at all. "That was definitely the worst thing I've ever done in my life." He shot the girls a level look. "But that doesn't mean I want you girls to lash out at her. Please just… Be nice to her, okay? I mean, don't take any of her crap if she starts it, but don't go out of your way to be mean."

It took the girls a while to give their promises. Even then, the words were filled with reluctance. When the last one – Jael – had given her promise, he nodded. "Okay. Since we're already pretty far up the list of things I didn't want to do today, let's add one more. Give me a couple of minutes to clean up, then meet me in the Physical Wing student lounge. There's something you guys should know, something I should have told you a long time ago."

Buzzing with curiosity, everyone went to wait in the lounge while Shadow changed and Cari helped Professor Gregory put the brooms back. It was cowardly, but Cari took her time with the task, fairly certain of what Shadow was going to say and not wanting to be there.

When she felt she had stalled long enough, Cari made her slow way back to the main building. To her disappointment, Shadow was just starting his explanation. As soon as he mentioned his Quidditch skills, Cari settled back into her armchair. This was going to take a while, especially once people started asking questions.

To be honest, everyone took the news pretty well… Until Shadow accidentally let it slip that Cari knew about his plans. That earned her a few hurt glares and one smug smile from Lydia.

"I'm really sad to see you go, Hale," Chayton said, slapping Shadow on the back in case his sentiment hadn't been manly enough.

"Yeah, it's going to be weird without you here," Tessa added.

"I think you guys are looking at this the wrong way," Kimber argued. "Our friend has a chance to do something awesome. Plus, it isn't like we we'll never see him. Think about it: If Shadow gets recruited by a professional team, we're guaranteed free tickets to matches for as long as he's on the team."

"That's true," Fletchmeister muttered, staring at the floor. "Good luck, buddy. We're all rooting for you." Smiling at her boyfriend's antics, Jackie slapped him lightly on the chest.

"Thanks, Fletch," Shadow laughed. "I'll do my best to get scouted." They all eyed him, waiting. He held their gazes for a minute before sighing. "And then I'll get you free tickets."

* * *

Author's Note \- So, Shadow's big news is out! Hard day for him all around, but at least it's all over with. Thanks for reading this one, guys! Hope you enjoyed. I would like to thank last chapter's reviewers really quickly: ghostcrab311, Ashes-To-Diamonds, and Falcon777. (Falcon777's review made me tear up a little, to be honest!) Anyway, thanks again for reading, have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday!


	48. Rogue

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, materials, or settings. The original elements of this story are my own, but everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from writing or publishing this story

* * *

Rogue

On the morning of the Academics vs. Arts match, Cari was told to perform the pre-game checks with the teams. She accepted eagerly and took off across the pitch, filled with relief that Shadow wasn't playing today. Her feelings with him were still too mixed up to be processed, especially when she needed to be focusing on being an effective referee. They hadn't spoken much since the aftermath of the last match. They hadn't really had the chance, honestly. With the news of Shadow's impending departure from Echowick, everyone suddenly wanted to spend even more time with him than usual. Having him to herself would be seen as selfish, not to mention a little odd.

Easter had passed quietly. Cari was still stuck spending her breaks at the school, though a four-day weekend was nothing compared to a week and a half vacation. No one was able to stay with her, since Lydia had a trip planned with her parents and Shadow's mother had finally put her foot down and insisted on seeing her son. Cari took no offense; her mother would be the same way if there was a feasible way for her to come home. Besides, she had gotten the chance to work extensively on her broom, under the less-than strict supervision of Professor Gregory. It still was nowhere close to complete, but any work was a step in the right direction. Even the distracted Professor took a break in his 'cleaning' – which was what he called walking around rearranging the clutter – to compliment her on how far along the broom was.

Both teams agreed to be on the Pitch on time and Cari joined Professor Gregory. "I meant to ask you earlier, Miss Romana: Are things beginning to settle back down?"

Cari thought back over all that had happened and shook her head. "Not even close. But I think they might actually be moving in a better direction." He smirked at the third-year and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, change can be good and all of that nonsense. I guess you weren't entirely wrong. Happy?"

"Exceedingly," the Professor said smugly before his grin relaxed into a smile. "I also am glad that you are content, Cari. You deserve some contentment." She smiled gratefully at the man who had become one of her favorite teachers, but didn't add anything else. Kickoff was coming up shortly and they had to pay attention as the teams approached.

When the match began, Cari took her usual route circling the lower levels of the pitch, watching the players from closer to the ground. As usual, Pitt threw small items at her from the stands, though she didn't pay much attention. Her referee's robes were still bewitched, and with the help of Asher – who turned out to be quite good with charms – they had 'bumped up the power', in Ransom's words. Any item thrown at her would still ricochet back at the thrower, but at nearly double the speed of its original descent. Professor Gregory had shaken his head disapprovingly, but said nothing to discourage them. In their book, this was a good as being given permission.

Cari eyed the players in the air, knowing all-too well how quickly matches could get out of hand. Everyone seemed fairly well-mannered at the moment, but that didn't count for much. In the meantime, she watched in some amusement as the new Beater for the Academics team struggled. Nothing dangerous, of course, but the unfamiliar second-year seemed eager to hit the Bludgers. Far too eager, in fact, to spend much time aiming.

As his fumbling continued, one of the Bludgers began to grow angry. Cari had read a short chapter on this phenomenon in a book she had studied to help learn Quidditch. Sometimes, the enchantments used on the Quidditch balls would warp due to time or proximity to magic, causing them to develop a sort of 'personality'. That's why most professional teams switched out their equipment on a regular basis. Echowick, not having surplus funds to dedicate to an extracurricular activity, only switched theirs out when they had to.

Cari's focus sharpened on the Academics Beater. If the Bludger grew too violent, she would have to report it to Professor Gregory, who would then be forced to cancel the match. Maybe she could call him on the radio to call a timeout and tell the other Beater to distract the warped Bludger or coach his teammate on the right way to be a Beater…

As she reached for her radio, it happened. The Bludger, dodging the boy's bat completely, collided with him solidly. He soared back a few feet, broom and all, and Cari thought for a moment that he would recover and catch himself. The Bludger, on the other hand, had different plans. Zooming around in a tight circle, it hit once more, knocking the boy cleanly off of his broom.

In a flash, Cari saw that Professor Gregory had his attention fixed on something else and none of the other players were close enough to help. Even at her low position on the pitch, Cari still had to pull into the steepest dive she had ever performed in order to get under the boy before he hit the ground. Between his flailing form pulling her off balance and the residual effects of the dive, she only managed to slow them slightly and they still collided with the grass of the pitch in a bone-rattling impact.

The breath was knocked out of her by the combination of hitting the ground flat on her back and by the weight of the boy landing on her. She let out a breathless _oof!_ but couldn't manage to do anything besides lay there for a few moments. The boy she had caught looked utterly bewildered, staring down at her. "Th- thank you. So much. You saved my life."

She reached out an arm and bodily shoved him to the ground, narrowly avoiding the Bludger which was trying to finish the job. From the corner of her eye, she saw people beginning to run onto the pitch. One in particular seemed faster than the others. "Cari! Hang on; we'll get you to the Hospital Building. Do you think anything is broken?"

"Shadow!" she gasped. "Get that kid out of here! The Bludger is warped, it'll keep coming at him until the game is over or someone restrains it."

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you here."

"I'm fine, Shadow, but he won't be if you don't keep that Bludger away from him!"

"What happened?" Professor Gregory asked from nearby.

"Professor, Cari says that Bludger is warped. It'll keep trying to attack."

"I'll take care of it," the professor said, determination plain in his voice. Cari watched curiously to see what he did, but Shadow got in the way.

"Come on, Cari. We have to get you to see Doctor Combes."

She scowled. "Shadow, don't be ridiculous. I'm fine. No broken bones, no head trauma, not even a cut. I'm not going to the Hospital Building, there's too much going on around here."

"What are you talking about?" he asked exasperatedly. "They're going to postpone the game and, if you're really fine, you can come back and referee the rematch."

Cari rolled her eyes. "Shadow, this is the Academics Team. They've planned for every eventuality and I mean _every_ one. They have backups for each player and as soon as the replacement Beater can be dressed and has a chance to warm up, the game will be back on."

"There's no way-"

"Attention, students!" Professor Fleet's magically-magnified voice boomed across the pitch. "Both students involved in the recent event are perfectly safe and healthy. This incident was caused by a malfunctioning Bludger. Both teams were asked whether they would prefer a rescheduled game and both declined. We ask for your patience while the teams prepare to resume the match. Thank you."

With that, the headmistress cancelled the magnification spell and strode quickly to where Cari still lay on the ground, giving Shadow a smug look. "Miss Romana, are you injured?"

"No, Professor Fleet."

Shadow came dangerously close to pouting. "I still think she needs to go to see Doctor Combes." Fleet raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed. "You never know whether she hit her head or has a concussion or something. There could be complications someday."

She studied him for a moment before giving her trademark single nod. "Very well, Mr. Hale. Would you care to escort Miss Romana to the Hospital Building?"

"Of course, Headmistress," Shadow replied smugly and helped Cari to her feet, though she made it clear that the assistance was not necessary.

Less than twenty minutes later, Doctor Combes canceled his diagnostic spell. "There's no serious damage, though you're going to have an extremely impressive, broomstick-shaped bruise on your back for a while. I wouldn't suggest any overly strenuous activity, but I don't see any reason that you would need to stay here. You're free to go."

"Ha!" Cari gloated victoriously.

Shadow gave her a dark look. "Are you sure she didn't hit her head, Doctor?"

"Absolutely certain, Mr. Hale."

"Do you think it's too late?"

"Hah. Hah." Cari drew out, voice filled with sarcasm. "Can we go now? I spend enough time here as it is." She glanced over at Doctor Combes, still standing nearby. "No offense."

"Believe me, Miss Romana, an empty Hospital Building is my fondest wish."

Shadow nodded his understanding, "As it would be for any good doctor."

Combes snorted. "Yeah, that's it. Nothing at all to do with the fact that I work in a school filled with teenagers. I just want to see the world healthy and whole and all of that. Feel free to show yourselves out when you're ready." He retreated to his office.

Cari barely managed to stifle a laugh at Shadow's shocked expression. Doctor Combes certainly took some getting used to. At the barely-muffled sound, he looked back to Cari, face filled with resignation. "Come on," he said reluctantly. "If I know our friends, we have an hour's worth of questions to answer and we've probably missed some vital drama."

Shadow's assumptions had been correct and they had spent the rest of Saturday answering everyone's questions. Cari couldn't believe that everyone had left the match just because of her and said so, but only got a rude response from Lydia. Sunday, she had reported to Building 7 and – after Professor Gregory made sure she was okay – helped to clean the brooms that had been left so neglected the day before. Professor Gregory had seemed embarrassed. "There were just so many of them. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't save them just for you. I can still make Asher and Ransom clean some if you would like." Cari had insisted on helping out anyway, partially because it was her job and partially because it was safer these days to avoid Lydia whenever possible.

In comparison to the weekend, the following week was smooth and calm. Thursday night, however, things took a drastic change. Everyone was at dinner in the cafeteria, chatting back and forth, laughing at the stories the classmates told, when Arsenia began to walk by the table. In a movement that was obviously forced, she stumbled to the side, dropping her plate of food directly onto Willa's back and shoulders.

"Oh, I am so sorry," Arsenia simpered. "I didn't see you there. My fault, completely."

Willa smoothly rose to her feet. The grace of the movement would have attracted the attention of all the males in the area even if the third-year table hadn't been the focus of the entire cafeteria's attention. Oblivious to - or ignoring - the stares, Willa brushed futilely at her well-cut jacket, only managing to smear the mess further.

"You know, Arsenia, it's interesting that you just happened to walk over here with your… dinner?" Arsenia nodded faux-apologetically and Jael shook her head, a tight smile drawing her lips back in a near-grimace. "And do your meals often consist of…" she trailed off and studied the mounds of food on the floor pointedly. "…spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and pudding?"

Arsenia turned an ugly color. "I don't know what you think you're accusing me of-"

Cari couldn't stop herself from jumping in. "Uh, it sounds like she's accusing you of loading your tray up with the messiest things you could find. It's pretty obvious you walked over here to 'accidentally' dump it all on Willa because she's pretty without a vat of bleach and three gallons of makeup."

Arsenia shot Cari a poisonous glare. "I would stay out of this if I were you, Mongrel. You have enough enemies around here without adding me to the list."

Jael stood up, poking fingers into Arsenia's chest – though Cari smirked when she noticed Jael had pulled a Mr. Kreer trick and gone for the hollow of the clavicle, forcing Arsenia to either back up or start gagging. Arsenia took a step back as Jael railed, "You want to talk about enemies? I'll make you wish you were born a dung beetle if you-"

Moving in a frantic burst, Arsenia reached out and grabbed a hank of Jael's dark hair and raised a hand as if to rake her nails down the girl's motionless face. In blur of speed, Willa's fist lashed out once, twice, against the older girl's face. Stunned, Arsenia dropped Jael's hair and Willa kicked her leg out from under her. The next thing anyone knew, Arsenia was lying stomach-down on the floor with Willa's booted foot resting on her cheek.

She wasn't even breathing hard, voice steady as she warned, "I've endured your petty barbs for years. They were harmless enough. But you don't get to threaten my friends, Arsenia. Not you. Not ever. Try it once more and I will show you what happens to those who are on _my_ bad side."

Removing her boot from the side of Arsenia's face, Willa shrugged out of her jacket, folding it neatly on the floor beneath her seat. There was some muffled applause from around the cafeteria. Cari couldn't help but notice that none of the teachers had moved very far considering how much time had passed since the beginning of the fight.

After Arsenia had run out of the cafeteria crying, an awkward silence descended on the third-years' table, even as the rest of the cafeteria buzzed with conversations. Willa paused halfway through her roasted squash and addressed the source of their awkwardness directly. "Shadow, I'm sorry if I offended you. It was not my intention to break my promise. However, I do believe there was a 'if she starts it' clause."

Seeming to struggle between consternation and amusement, Shadow just shook his head. When he spoke, his mouth stayed in a straight line, but his eyes sparkled. "Did- did you have to put your foot on her face?"

"Yes," Willa said tranquilly before taking another bite of her meal.

* * *

The best part about the showdown between Willa and Arsenia – other than the fourth-year girl avoiding them studiously – was the fact that none of the group got into trouble. Cari hadn't considered it until after the altercation, but Shadow could have technically been considered to be involved and barred from playing in the last match of the year. She herself could have been stopped from refereeing. Thankfully, neither of these happened, and the Politics vs Physical match was somewhat calm.

Asher had caught the Snitch, resulting in a generous win by the Physical Team. Cari let Professor Gregory make the call, knowing that her wide, proud grin would be seen as less-than professional, but unable to stifle it. Both teams touched down, Asher holding the Snitch victoriously in the air the entire way to the ground. Everyone was celebrating fervently, loud cheers from the Physical Wing exuberant enough to make most of the Politics Team smile.

While they were still huddled in one group in the center of the pitch, a sullen voice was heard through the noise of the crowd, not loud in volume, but cutting in tone. "They're just lucky one of the referees belongs to their Wing or they would never have won against us."

If it had been up to Cari, she would have ignored the voice, but a buzz of interest surrounded the unknown player. This still wouldn't have been enough to make her investigate, but an all-too familiar voice rang out belligerently. "What are you trying to say, Carter?"

Cari sighed and began fighting her way through the crowd before Shadow could do anything too damaging. By the time she could see the two players, Carter had apparently said something else and Shadow was starting to lunge forward at him. "Shadow!" she barked, catching him by the shoulders and pulling him back.

For a wild, confused moment, she thought Shadow might hit her, but he soon realized who had grabbed him and dropped his fist. "Cari! I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you."

"That's right, go talk to your pet referee. Let her go explain how she only called fouls on our team." Shadow snarled and tried to tackle the other boy, but Cari spun so her back was to the Politics Team Seeker and began pushing Shadow away. "I hope he's giving you something good, Roma-" Carter cut off abruptly.

Cari glanced back over her shoulder to find that Professor Gregory was standing behind Carter, a pleasant look on his face. "Mr. Carter, if you have a complaint with Miss Romana's refereeing calls, I am the one to whom it should be reported." Carter wordlessly shook his head and Gregory smiled. "I am glad to hear that there is no problem, after all. In that case, please accompany me to Professor Fleet's office. There, we can have a long, private chat – just the three of us – about what a referee's duties are and what constitutes an 'inflammatory phrase or action'."

With that, Professor Gregory winked at Cari and began to lead Carter through the crowd. Cari pulled Shadow to a semi-secluded area on the pitch. "Why are you so upset?" she asked, point-blank. "You know what he said wasn't true. For the love of magic, you're moving away to improve your chances of getting onto a professional team! You know you're a good player and my being a referee changes absolutely nothing."

"It's not that," he said, still glaring over her shoulder at Carter's slowly-disappearing back. Cari moved slightly to intercept his gaze, which softened as he sighed. "Cari, he was basically saying that you're making biased calls. That the reason we're winning so much lately is because you're not really impartial. I know how hard you work to be a fair judge and you shouldn't be called into question all the time."

"Hello? They already did that, Shadow. Someone called me into question, I was investigated, and they found me to be in the right. Yeah, people talk smack, but we all know they're just complaining because they lost. Don't let it bother you. I don't let it bother me." Cari smiled encouragingly up at him, but he shook his head.

"Cari, you're amazing, you know that?"

She reached up and patted his cheek. "I know. You're so lucky to have me around."

"Cari!" "Shadow!" "Nice job out there!" "What happened? Why did they take Carter away?" The questions flooded out as their friends joined them on the pitch. Fortunately, Professor Gregory needed help with the brooms right then, signaling Cari over. Making her excuses, Cari left Shadow to explain everything that had happened, knowing full well that the female half of the group was going to require a separate explanation later on.

As more time passed, Cari found her thoughts drifting constantly to the prototype broomstick. On some level, she worried that she was becoming addicted, in a sense, to the feel of the rowan's response to her. The other, more vocal part of her mind insisted that nothing was wrong and she should really be concerned about finishing by the set deadline. There was still so much work left to do…

"Cari!" Lionel exclaimed from behind her in the hall after classes one day. She wheeled around, sure that her face showed her surprise and curiosity. Her friend ran up beside her, eyes glittering with excitement. "I finally found a way to get Iagan in trouble!"

"What? How?"

"I caught him going through a professor's private notes, copying them down for a few people. He's been taking the names of people who are willing to pay for a chance at getting the best possible score on their finals."

Cari frowned. "Did you-?"

"No, of course not!" The shock and offense in Lionel's voice was enough to instantly convince Cari of the boy's innocence. "I heard him trying to get the others interested. I knew he would have to try to get the notes from the professor's office, so I set a basic perimeter spell – don't know why she didn't already have one on her office, but whatever – and Iagan tripped it a few minutes ago. I caught him in the act, Cari!"

"Did you get pictures or anything?" Lionel shook his head and Cari furrowed her brows. "But doesn't that just make it his word against yours? If he is going to get into trouble for it, he'll probably try to lie his way out of it."

"Exactly: my word against his. I'm a model student, never been in trouble, so on and so forth. Iagan, on the other hand, has a record of doing things like this. There's no way he's going to talk his way out of this one!" Lionel was panting slightly as he finished his explanation and Cari had to smile.

"I'm happy for you, Lionel. Where is Iagan now?"

He shrugged, smiling happily. "I went straight to Professor Fleet about everything I knew. She called him into her office immediately and I think he's been there ever since."

"Congrats, Lionel!" she said, patting hi shoulder. "I've got to go work on some stuff, but I'm proud of you!"

He bid her goodbye and they walked in different directions. Cari was headed straight for Building 7, since Professor Gregory had agreed to let her work after school that day, but was stopped by Lydia's approach. "Hey, I have a note for you." She waggled her eyebrows, grinning.

"For me?" Cari looked at the note held in Lydia's outstretched hand, but made no move to take it. "Who is it from?"

"I don't know," Lydia said carelessly. "Someone just told me to give it to you. An older kid, brown hair. I don't know his name, but I've seen him around."

Reluctantly, Cari accepted the note and unfolded it carefully. There could be nasty spells contained in folded paper, as Cari had been taught in multiple classes. Nothing seemed off, however, and she relaxed. Written inside, in neat, even script, read:

 _I'm calling in the favor you owe me. I have been with you since the end of the last class, helping with your Herbology essays. Do not fail me, Licaria._

Not remotely relaxed anymore, Cari read the note over several times. There was no question of the writer's identity. There was only one person who called her 'Licaria' in the school and certainly only one who she owed a favor… Fortunately, there was an easy fix. She would swear Lydia to secrecy, convince her to say she couldn't find Cari, and the note would be disposed of. Resolute, Cari happened to glance back at the paper, already moving to crumple it in her hands when the words faded from the page, replaced by others:

 _This note is charmed to alert me when you have read it. Do not attempt to cheat me, or I will be forced to reveal your own illegal intentions._

Cari sighed irritably. "What, was it bad news?" Lydia asked, studying her roommate with concern on her face.

Before Cari could answer, one of the seventh-year Wing Leaders walked up. "Licaria Romana? Professor Fleet sent me. You're supposed to report to her office as soon as possible."

Ignoring Lydia's chatter, Cari said goodbye and walked to Fleet's office. There was no use stalling; no doubt, everyone in the office would wait no matter how long she took. Waving a greeting to the librarian, Cari climbed the stairs, knocked on Fleet's door, and entered the room.

Professor Fleet looked determined, Iagan seemed victorious, and Lionel was simply confused. "Cari? What are you doing here?"

Not responding to Lionel's questions, Professor Fleet said, "I believe you have some information for me?"

Carefully avoiding Lionel's gaze, Cari took a deep breath and nodded. "Iagan was helping me with my Herbology essays all afternoon. We were in one of the student lounges from just after classes ended until a half-hour ago."

Looking stunned, Lionel could only say, "Cari…"

"Very well. Due to your _previously_ unimpeachable character, Miss Romana, I have no choice but to rule in favor of Mr. Kelly. You are all three dismissed."

They left the office in complete silence, which continued as they walked across the grounds. As they reached the main building, Iagan smiled. "Thank you, Licaria. This will not be forgotten."

Before he had completely walked away, Lionel wheeled to face her. "Are you serious, Cari? He bought you out? I thought you were better than this, better than _him_." He studied her face, disgust showing on his own. "Maybe… Maybe everything people say about you is true." He started to say something else, but shook his head and walked away, disappointment mixed with the lingering shock in his expression.

Feeling as though she had been stabbed, Cari mechanically returned to her dorm room, shook her head in response to Lydia's questions, and crawled into bed. The tears that escaped her eyes weren't of sadness, but of self-loathing.

* * *

Author's Note \- Always something going on at Echowick, but I'm sure all of you intelligent readers already figured out that Iagan was going to call in his favor for something painful. Poor Lionel, though! In any case, thank you for reading. Sorry for the random long chapter. Special thanks to my Guest reviewer last week! Your comments about my characters were so deeply appreciated. Really made me smile! That should be it for today, so I will see you all next Monday. Have a wonderful week!


	49. Meddling

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own any rights to _Harry Potter_ or related materials. Any non-original elements of this story belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Meddling

It was always interesting when students were instructed to meet with their advising professor. Most of the students had simply been assigned to random professors, but Cari had to go to Fleet's office. She had never heard of another student reporting to the Headmistress, but she was so much better than Garbin that Cari never dared complain.

On a particular Friday toward the end of the school year, most of the third-years were given a time to meet with their counselors, provided their overall grades were high enough to drop a class. Some students compared notes on which classes would be dropped while others concentrated on whether they would be able to choose more than one class to opt out of for the following year. Of the second group, some wanted to focus on their career studies, but most simply wanted to avoid as much work as possible.

Professor Fleet finished looking through Cari's file and shuffled the papers back together, returning Cari's attention to the present. "Miss Romana, your grades are sufficient. You may choose one additional class to drop for your fourth year so that you may focus further on those you currently attend. Please note that the process is similar to last year, and you will be required to take an exit exam to prove proficiency before you will be given leave to drop it. With this criteria in mind, have you given any thought to which class you might like to opt out of?"

Cari nodded. This was a very large part of why she had been working so hard all year. "Yes, Professor, I want to drop Herbology."

Professor Fleet's expression grew serious. "I'm sorry, that is nearly the only class you cannot drop. I'm sorry."

Stunned, Cari sat back in her seat. "But- but why? I'm terrible at Herbology, really awful. Why do I have to stay in it if that class is dropping my GPA?"

Fleet grimaced. "I apologize for my bluntness, but I know it is by far your worst subject. That is why I cannot advise that you drop it. At this moment, your skills are inefficient to pass the exit exam. Going through the process would be a waste of everyone's time, as you still lack the skills necessary to function in the wizarding world." She watched Cari hopefully. "Is there a different class you would consider dropping?"

Disappointed at the thought of at least one more year of Herbology, Cari took a moment to think before shrugging. "Sorry, but if I have to keep Herbology, that means I have no choice but to drop Magical Heritage."

Professor Fleet nodded understandingly. "Think nothing of it, Miss Romana. Magical Heritage, beautiful a subject as it may be, has no real bearing on your chosen career. I would have suggested you drop it had you been unable to come up with a different choice."

Still a little bummed out, Cari didn't respond. Instead, she began gathering her things. "Is that it? Am I free to go now?"

"No. Please sit back down, Miss Romana." Slightly shocked, Cari took her seat and stared at the Headmistress, wide-eyed. The woman seemed deeply uncomfortable, which made Cari either nervous or intrigued. The emotions were too close to tell apart. "I understand you are upset about Mr. Hale's upcoming transfer."

It wasn't the last thing Cari had expected, but it was pretty far down the list. "You know about that?" she blurted unthinkingly.

Fleet smiled. "Of course. I just sent his paperwork off to his new school earlier today."

Something in Cari's chest deflated at that. "Oh," she said flatly. "Well, that's good, I guess. Get the ball rolling and everything."

Fleet nodded as if something had been confirmed. "So his departure does bother you."

"I mean, yeah it bothers me," Cari said with a shrug. "He was the first friend I made here and we've stayed friends all of these years. I'll miss him unbelievably badly, but his moving away is for the better. He has a chance at improving his future. I couldn't ask him to walk away from something like that."

"Have you?" Cari gave her Headmistress a confused look and Fleet elaborated, "Did you ask him to leave this chance behind?"

"I would hardly be much of a friend if I did," Cari snorted. Behind the desk, Professor Fleet simply raised an eyebrow. "What, was I supposed to beg him not to leave? To give up something that could set up his future?"

"Not necessarily. I just wondered if you had given thought to the possibility of telling him that you will miss him and do not wish for him to leave."

"Thought about it? Sure. But would I ever? No. It's going to be hard enough for Shadow to leave everyone he knows here behind and move to another continent without me making it worse for him. I don't want him to feel like he's betraying me somehow by not fighting his dad to stay here."

"Hmm. I understand what you are saying, Miss Romana, but do you not think it would be nice for him to hear that he will be missed?"

"He knows we'll miss him. For Merlin's sake, no one's said anything else to him since the news came out!"

"Ah, but I was not asking about what everyone else is saying. I was asking about what you have told him yourself."

Professor Fleet seemed to be trying to make a point, but Cari didn't know what it was. _Actually, that's not true,_ she admitted internally. _I know exactly what she's trying to get at, but I don't want to talk about it. Telling Shadow I have feelings for him isn't going to make anything easier, especially not for Shadow._ Stiffening her resolve to lie to the Headmistress, Cari said, "I don't know what you're talking about and this conversation has started to circle. Am I free to go now?"

Fleet shook her head exasperatedly, but only agreed, "Very well, you may leave. Next year, you will have Potions, Herbology, Survival, and Transfiguration with fourth- and fifth-years on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A formal schedule will be sent to you late in the summer."

Before she left Professor Fleet's office, Cari couldn't prevent a last question from coming out. "Professor?" When Fleet's dark eyes met Cari's, she asked, "What's the name of the school Shadow is transferring to?"

Fleet studied the third-year student for a minute. "Hogwarts. He will be attending Hogwarts next year."

The girl forced herself to smile. "What a weird name. I guess that gives me one more way to make fun of Shadow. Thanks, Professor!" She left the Headmistress again shaking her head at the closing door.

With her release from Fleet's office, Cari was free to do whatever she wanted, but that was tricky in itself. While she didn't feel like doing anything productive, she also was trying to avoid her friends. Lionel was still angry about the situation with Pitt and - while he wouldn't tell anyone what was going on - he also was not subtle in his anger. Cari got tired of being interrogated by her friends and had put most of her efforts toward avoiding the entire situation.

Besides all of that, all of Echowick seemed to be gossiping about the same thing: one of the other schools had been experiencing some kind of attack on students. No one knew what was attacking, which naturally made the news even more interesting to the students, but it did wear thin after weeks of talking. Cari would rather avoid her fellow students altogether.

At first, that was fairly easy to do. The entire school had moved into the pre-final traditions of Independent Study Days, and with being a Broomsmith-in-training came a new place to hide out and study, especially since Professor Gregory didn't care how long she was in the room as long as she wasn't being noisy. It came with the added bonus that none of the non-Broomsmith students were allowed to come inside, but it had one major yet hidden drawback: Cari was extremely close to the broom prototype for large amounts of time.

In the beginning, she tried to tell herself that she would only work on her broom when she had finished studying for the day. That plan failed almost immediately and she compromised with a schedule of two hours of studying followed by one working on the broom. This failed as well, as the rowan wood seemed to have a drugging effect on Cari. She would set a timer to work on the broom for only the predetermined hour, but would look up and find that it was nearly three or four hours later.

After a day much like that one, Cari had stared down at the broom on the table, thinking about how much studying she had skipped out on that day as she working on her project instead. She was fairly certain she would fail every single one of her finals, but the broom was extremely close to being finished. In fact, it was beginning to look like a real broom and that was inexplicably exciting to her. Something she had thought up was in the process of being made and would soon be put to the test. It was exhilarating, but there was no use celebrating if she was going to flunk out of Echowick in the process. She decided then that she had no choice but to study elsewhere.

Choice made for her, Cari left Fleet's office and the administrative building to hide in her dorm room and study there, a noise-canceling charm worked around her bed in an attempt to keep out the sound of Merlin's Minatory Robots – still Lydia's go-to studying music, which still had to be played at an ear-splitting volume in order to be effective.

Even without the rowan broom nearby, calling her name in a voice too sweet to be audible, Cari had a hard time studying. Halfway through a chapter on the proper uses of wolfsbane in potions, Cari's mind began to wander, focusing instead on the discussion with Fleet. _Why would she encourage me to tell Shadow I don't want him to go? It wouldn't serve any real purpose, other than making me look clingy and like a horrible friend. And also possible making Shadow feel guilty about leaving…_

"-cantatum," Cari heard, and looked over at the side of her bed. Lydia was standing there, wand in hand, a bemused look on her face.

"Hey, did you need something?"

Lydia threw her hands up in the air, accidentally letting off a little shower of red sparks. "Um, yes. I've been trying to get your attention for almost five minutes. Didn't you hear me threatening to cancel whatever it was you cast over here?"

"Well, since it was a silencing charm, no." Cari laughed at Lydia's chagrined face. "Anyway, did you really need something, or were you just freaked out because I wasn't answering?"

"A bit of both, actually. I don't know what happened with you and Lionel, and even though I'm not going to quit asking, I think it's time you stopped avoiding everyone else. In case you've forgotten, there's not a whole lot more time you have to spend with Shadow before he leaves."

Cari sighed, irritated. Sitting up, she raked fingers through her hair, making it frizz out. "Believe me; I know Shadow is leaving soon. Why does everyone keep reminding me?"

"Everyone?" Cari knew she had said the wrong thing when Lydia looked immediately intrigued. "Who else has been talking to you about Shadow?"

"No one, really, just you and Professor Fleet. I'm just tired of the subject."

"That's right, you had your 'drop classes' meeting today. How did it go? More importantly, how did the topic get switched to you and Shadow? Or that he's leaving soon or whatever."

Cari gave a vague shrug. "I'm not really sure. One second we were fighting about me dropping Herbology and the next minute, she's asking me about Shadow." Seeing Lydia's interest sharpen, Cari quickly amended, "Not really asking me about him, per se, more asking if I was going to miss him."

"And? Are you?"

"Of course! What is with you people? How could I not miss him? He's one of my best friends."

It was Lydia's turn to shrug. "People who are going to miss other people usually don't spend all of their time actively avoiding the ones who are getting ready to leave."

"It's not Shadow I'm avoiding, and you know that. I- I don't really want to talk about it, but I messed up with Lionel. Big time. I just thought it was better to lay low for a little while." She sighed. "But maybe you're right and it's been long enough. Has he said anything?"

"Not really. To be honest, he's been avoiding us as much as you have." Lydia walked slowly backward until she could sit on the edge of her bed. "I happen to know that Shadow is studying in the cafeteria. I also happen to know that he's there by himself. Maybe you should think about going to speak with him while you two have a little privacy."

Cari frowned at her roommate. "Why would we need privacy?"

"I don't know, just mentioning that it's a perk." Lydia waggled her eyebrow suggestively until Cari threw a pillow at her. "Fine, you would meet with him even in front of everyone. Just go, okay? If you stay, I'll keep doing this!" She started rapidly moving her eyebrows once more.

"Okay, I'm going! Just stop!" Lydia stopped, grinning widely. Cari heaved an exasperated sigh as she put shoes on and left the room.

Wherever Lydia had gotten her information, it was correct. Shadow sat alone at the end of the third-year table, a Transfiguration book lying open in front of him. Even across the room and through the crowds of gathered students, Cari watched him rake a frustrated hand through his hair. She smiled, but before she could approach, the small red-headed first-year, Murphy, walked up shyly and sat down across from Shadow.

It was obvious from Tanya Murphy's posture and wide-eyed stares that she idolized Shadow, alternating between speaking a mile a minute and looking down at her hands shyly. Shadow, for his part, answered her questions with an amused kind of kindness. Cari waited impatiently for Murphy to walk away, knowing that the fewer who saw her with Shadow, the better. Unfortunately, Murphy seemed to be in no hurry to leave, excited beyond belief to be having an actual conversation with the third-year boy. Shadow wasn't helping matters, either. _The least he could do is act grumpy, or tell her that he's busy,_ she thought sullenly.

Eventually, their discussion came to an abrupt end as one of Murphy's friends called her from across the cafeteria. The first-year said a quick goodbye to Shadow and returned to her table. As soon as the girl was safely seated facing away from the third-year table, Cari strode across the cafeteria and slid into the newly-unoccupied spot opposite Shadow.

"I didn't think that first-year was ever going to leave!" she exclaimed.

"Cari!" was Shadow's only response. "I haven't seen you in forever." He frowned. "Are you talking about Murphy?"

"Yeah, the red-head girl? I'm surprised you didn't tell her to leave earlier. Looks like you're working on some heavy-duty stuff," Cari said, grimacing as she pointed at the Transfiguration textbook, open to a complicated-looking method for living-to-living transmutations.

"Eh, she doesn't really bother me." Shadow laughed at Cari's disbelieving expression. "Reacting as a true older child! I never had any younger siblings to irritate me growing up. Murphy's kind of like the little sister I never had."

"Yeah, I guess, but you're seriously underestimating the perks of being an only child."

Shadow studied her, suddenly serious. "Why don't you like her, Cari? Did she do something to offend you personally?"

Cari propped her chin on an upraised fist, staring over into the fireplace instead of at the boy across the table. "Not in so many words. I mean, she's never done anything to be rude on purpose, but she… She's like a walking encyclopedia of every nasty rumor that's gone around Echowick about me since I got here. Just gets a little tiring to listen to, especially when I have to assure her that none of them are true."

"I didn't know she did that," Shadow mused. Cari, not sure how to answer this, merely shrugged. "I'm sure if she knew it bothered you, she would stop. Do you want me to ask her to knock it off?"

"Nah. If you two are close, I don't want to get in the middle of that. I'll just try not to spend any unnecessary time around her, if that's okay with you."

It was Shadow's turn to shrug. "I don't care. Whatever makes you happy." He glanced down at the Transfiguration textbook uncomfortably. "I don't want to sound rude, but did you need anything in particular? I still have a lot of studying to do before people start coming in here for dinner."

"Oh, sorry. Nothing really, just wanted to let you know that the broom is really coming along well and should be done in plenty of time."

"Really?" Shadow asked eagerly, studying forgotten. "How much more work do you think it's going to need?"

"No, no. You have studying to do," Cari kindly reminded him, though with a savage sort of thrill. "I'll tell you when it's closer to being done, but it shouldn't take much more than another week or so." She frowned. "Well, if I can find the stupid blueprints. Good luck with Transfigurations."

Grinning to herself as she rose from the table, Cari decided that it was a perfect time to go log a few more hours on the prototype. The fact that her fingers were itching to work with the rowan was of no real consequence.

To her surprise, she was far from being the only one in Building 7. Asher, Ransom, and Professor Gregory all stood scattered around the inside of the room, each working on their own project. Cari called a short greeting and picked her broom up from the work station she had designated as her own. As soon as her hand closed around the carefully-carved broomstick, something wild inside of her chest eased and a rueful smile escaped. _I really need to finish this quickly,_ she decided. _I think I'm getting addicted to working with magicked materials._

Inserting the rougarou hair into the rowan had been something she had dreaded doing since she had first thought up the idea for her prototype, but it was actually one of the simpler parts of construction. Just after she had finished carving the broomstick, Cari had waited until Professor Gregory had stepped away before opening a narrow fissure down its length. The hair had been laid delicately, end-to-end inside the gap, the thin strands nearly invisible unless one was searching closely. She had then used the _Iugo_ spell Professor Gregory had taught them while the class worked on the school brooms, sealing the wood once more.

After a quick check to be sure that none of the hair had been pushed back to the surface, Cari had been confident the process had worked. Sure enough, the first time she picked up the broomstick after that, she had nearly dropped it immediately. The electric current - always present in the rowan wood, even in the beginning - felt like it had been intensified a thousand times.

This was a cause of great concern when Professor Gregory had stridden to her table. "Did I see you using the _Iugo_ spell? Is everything okay with your project?"

Cari had fought herself as he reached for the broom. Surely it would look strange to freak out over the teacher examining the broomstick she had been working so hard on… Fortunately, the professor didn't seem to notice anything amiss, simply studying the broomstick before smiling. "Nicely executed, Miss Romana! Very well done."

So, with no apparent notice to what she had done, Cari had been free to continue her work over the past few months without interruption or question. Of course, the Phillips brothers thought she was insane for choosing to build a broom from scratch, but that was another story altogether.

She was thrilled with the way the entire prototype had turned out, but the blueprints were missing, and that was a cause for concern. _I mean, if anyone finds them, I can always just say that they're purely theoretical. If they're even traced back to me._ Fortunately, the broom was nearly complete, so it didn't seem she would need them again regardless. Everything was set up and had been waiting for the right day to be tested by the professor, making absolute sure that the broom would fly.

Cari turned the broom over and over in her hands. Today was the day. She would have Professor Gregory test her work, make sure the broom was flyable, and then she would move on to the final set of charms for comfort and other strictly unnecessary factors before a last polish. Then, her broom would be ready to be tested, all before Shadow had to leave for his strange, foreign school.

* * *

Less than one week later, on the Wednesday before finals week, Cari found Shadow sitting in his now-usual place at the end of the third-year table. Cari approached him, smiling widely as she sat down.

He glanced up at her, brows furrowed. "You look awfully cheerful, especially with finals coming up."

News temporarily forgotten, Cari studied her friend. His clothes were wrinkled and had a few stains, his hair was mussed, and there were large dark circles under his eyes. She grimaced. "And you just look awful. What is going on?"

Shadow groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I'm stressed, Cari. Finals are killing me. Why is this the year I didn't plan anything fun for stress-relief?"

Cari patted his arm comfortingly. "It's okay, I have something better." He pulled his head up to stare at her and she leaned in, speaking just above a whisper. "You know what's an excellent activity for stress-relief?" His face remained expressionless, but Cari couldn't help the smile spreading across her face as she said, "Flying."

There was a small flash of disappointment in Shadow's expression followed by an overwhelming wave of excitement. "It's ready?"

Cari nodded, motioning for him to keep his voice down. It wasn't too late for them to be caught and stopped. "It's ready, tested and everything. We just have to pick a time." Before anything else could be said, the rest of their group arrived – apparently from one of the student lounges – ready for dinner. Before she slid over to make room for Lydia, Cari muttered, "I'll let you pick the time. Just let me know what you decide."

Lydia waggled her eyebrows at Cari, but she simply rolled her eyes. She did her best to chat and laugh with her friends, but her heart was constantly in her throat. She wanted to test the broomstick prototype as soon as possible, find out for certain if it was even flyable, but couldn't bring herself to rush Shadow.

The boy in question was soon dragged away to hang out with Chayton and Eric, but managed to slip Cari a note before they left. When Cari finally found an excuse to step away from the girls, she unfolded it to find:

 _Let's do it tonight. I'll be outside my apartment at midnight._

Cari smiled victoriously. Either way, they would have an answer in less than six hours. It was a good day.

* * *

Author's Note \- Ahhh, excitement! Cari's finally going to get an answer about her theories. Unfortunately for us, there won't be another update until next Monday, but still! Coming up! As a side note, I can't help but be unhappy with the flashbacks and weird time jumps in this chapter. I tried to fix some of them to be less confusing as I was editing, but I'm still dissatisfied. If I can find the time, I'll likely be reworking everything to smooth it out. I apologize for any confusion. In any case, thank you for reading! I want to give a special shout-out to HarryPotterFanHermione for being my most loyal reviewer, staying vigilant against spoilers, and for sometimes seeming to be psychic. Your review was fantastic! Made my whole day! But back to it, I'll see you all next Monday and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, leave a review or PM me and I will be happy to address them. Have a wonderful day!


	50. The Broomstick

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related materials, characters, settings, or situations. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. The only elements of this story owned by me are the original pieces. I make no money from writing or publishing this story.

Author's Note \- Hey! Author's Note at the beginning of the chapter? Crazy! But not as crazy as this being Chapter 50! I just wanted to start off by apologizing for last chapter's cliffhanger. It's just where the division of the chapter fell! I also wanted to thank you all for following along on this story. It's been a crazy ride and - if everything goes well - there will be plenty more to come.

* * *

The Broomstick

At promptly midnight, Cari crept from her room, careful not to wake Lydia. There would be no way to explain to her roommate what was about to happen while still stressing the need for her and Shadow to be alone. Cari couldn't even truly explain it to herself, but tried to push it from her mind. There were far better things to concentrate on at the moment.

She closed the door carefully behind her and turned to find Shadow already waiting, dressed in an oddly-similar outfit: jeans, tennis shoes, and a thin, dark-colored sweatshirt. "Why, Licaria!" he whispered in faux shock and horror. "Whatever are you doing out of bed at such an hour?"

Cari rolled her eyes and shouldered the broom. "You're so weird. Ready to go?"

"As soon as you hand me the broom, I will be."

She frowned, pulling brows over her threatening glare. "Excuse me? Why should you hold the broom?"

He frowned back. "Because I'm the guy and it's chivalrous to offer to hold things for a girl when we're walking together."

"Uh-uh," she denied, pulling the shoulder with the broom away from him, twisting to keep the prototype away from him. "I came up with it, I slaved over a hot sander carving it from a tree, and I'm the one who had to search the sketchy underbelly of Echowick to get more rougarou hair for it. This is my baby and I get to carry it."

Shadow laughed and took a step back with his hands raised in the air in front of himself. "Well, manners aside, I know not to come between a mother anything and her baby. Though I would like to point out that a case could be made for me being the father of the broom." Cari raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "Hey, it's made of my wand materials. Just seems like a logical inference."

"Hmm… If the broom is half yours, I suppose we could look into shared custody as long as you're willing to pay broom support." Shadow furrowed his brow in mock-outrage and Cari shrugged helplessly. "Hey, brooms cost money to raise." Cari could feel the rowan wood vibrating slightly against her shoulder and figured that it was probably showing amusement, as much as it could.

Shadow glanced down at her outstretched hand and sighed. "Fine, you can carry the broom."

Cari tossed her head and readjusted the broom slightly, shaking her head. "That's what I thought. Nothing but a deadbeat broom father, just wanting to participate in the fun parts, like carrying it without doing any of the actual work, like carving, or inscribing, or polishing…"

Shadow laughed. "All right, all right, I stand corrected. Lead on, Licaria Romana, mother of broomsticks."

They walked in companionable silence out to the abandoned Quidditch pitch, the prototype resting comfortably on Cari's shoulder. The moonlight fell in a dappled pattern over the pair as they exited the woods. Confidently, Shadow led them onto the smoothly-mown grass of the pitch.

Cari eyed Shadow from the side. He had changed so much over the past three years. She had just become aware of the changes over the past few months, but now it seemed that he looked more grown-up every day. Recently, Shadow stood tall, posture straight. His face had thinned, the receded baby fat revealing the planes of his father's classic bone structure. His mother's sandy blond hair had darkened to a light brown, fanning around his face with a hint of waviness. He was so much taller than Cari now. With a pang in her chest, Cari wondered when exactly that had happened.

Shadow had caught Cari studying him and turned with an eyebrow raised. "What?" Cari just shook her head and he puffed out his chest, making a muscle conceitedly. "I know, too gorgeous to resist, right?"

Cari let out an exaggerated snort and began checking the charms on the underside of the broom's handle. She had almost finished when Shadow grabbed her hand. She looked up and was struck by the urgency in his blue gaze. "Cari, I…" He looked away, clearing his throat, before staring into her eyes once again. "You are amazing, Cari. Honestly. You're the most amazing person I've ever met in my life. I don't think I would be here with the chances I have if I had never met you."

Sensing the conversation taking an unwanted turn toward being serious, Cari grinned up at her friend and – she could admit it now – her fairly serious crush. "You're just saying that because I built you a broom."

"No, I've always known how amazing you are." He grew even more solemn. "There's something I've wanted to ask you…"

Cari nodded encouragingly. "Yeah, sure. What is it?"

Shadow paused for a moment before shrugging carelessly and grabbing the broom from her hands. Shooting her a cocky smile, he shook his head, "It'll keep." He stepped away only to turn around and come back immediately. With one large hand, he managed to cup Cari's jaw and thread fingers through her hair, drawing her in to press his lips against hers.

Caught in shock, it took Cari a moment to respond, to instinctively begin moving her lips against his. Shadow abruptly pulled back, eyes filled with a bright gleam. He shook his head again. "So amazing." He turned, taking several steps forward as he mounted the broom and soared off into the night sky.

She was too stunned to be concerned, but there was no need: He immediately began swooping and soaring, moving in ways Cari had never thought possible on a broom, especially one made by a third-year Broomsmith student. "This is great!" he called down to her. "You're a genius!" He sailed high above the pitch, setting up for a dive.

"Stop!" someone cried, and Cari turned around to find Professor Fleet rushing onto the pitch. Narrowing her eyes, Cari could make out the slightly crumpled pages of the missing blueprints rolled up in the Headmistress' fist.

Shadow was too high up to hear her, but Cari found herself defending the situation even as the professor strode up, anger and fear sparking in her dark eyes. "I'm sorry, Professor, but we didn't think anyone would let us actually test this out if we told them. I had Professor Gregory check the broom, and he said it would work. He even tested the broom itself. I don't think-"

Professor Fleet gestured sharply, cutting Cari off. "Miss Romana, while I will be demanding a full explanation for your actions at a later time, the most important thing right now is to ensure everyone is safe. Where is Mr. Hale?"

Cari gestured up vaguely. "I understand, Headmistress, but I've been studying very hard over the past two years. I performed all of the charms-" She stopped mid-sentence. Shadow's revelation about moving had come as such a shock that she had never finished checking the charms… Her stomach dropped sharply as she remembered the tail section of the broom. Stabilization charms went on the underside of the broomstick, just above the twigs of the tail. Cari hadn't officially studied them yet, but hadn't been too concerned. After all, her textbooks all said that the tail charms were mostly to add to comfort and braking capabilities, though a manual brake was preferred unless the broom was for racing. There was one notable exception was the stabilization charm itself. Had she remembered to place it..?

Studying Cari's face, Fleet immediately knew Cari had realized something was wrong. They both sprinted forward at the same time, waving their arms and shouting for Shadow to return to the ground. Focused on his dive, Shadow didn't hear their warnings. Face intense, he whipped around and leaned forward, putting the broom on a steep incline toward the grass of the pitch. He moved faster and faster, grinning broadly, not seeming to notice that he was beginning to list to one side.

"The stabilization charm!" Cari gasped, the lack of air in her lungs depriving the words of all volume. She and Fleet could only watch, horrified, as Shadow continued his rapid descent.

Shadow's dive reached its crescendo, and pulled up only feet above the ground. At least, the broom pulled up. Completely dislodged, Shadow's body was forced into the grass of the pitch, carried by his tremendous velocity.

Cari and Fleet sprinted to Shadow, led by the riderless broom hovering helpfully next to his still form. When they stood next to Shadow, Fleet held an arm out, keeping Cari from grabbing him. With a delicate motion of her wand, Fleet gently turned Shadow so that he was lying on his back. His eyes were open, mouth stretched in a joy-filled grin. Only the sharp angle of his head told the true story: Shadow's neck had been broken by his impact.

Professor Fleet was crying, silent tears streaming down her face as she gently closed Shadow's eyes. Cari looked down at her classmate, friend, and beginning of something more before moving her gaze to the Headmistress, eyes traveling the same path again and again, uncomprehending. "Shadow?" Surely any second now, he would sit up, rubbing his neck and beaming at her. Surely… "Shadow?!"

Headmistress Fleet couldn't maintain her grip and Cari fell onto her knees beside her friend. He was so still. No one could be that still. And yet Shadow couldn't be gone. The vibrant, life-filled boy who had been laughing and kissing her passionately less than five minutes ago could not possibly be… dead. Thinking the word sent Cari over the edge, and she reached out to – to do what, she didn't know. As soon as her fingers brushed Shadow's motionless form, she recoiled. There was something about him that sent the truth spiking into her brain: Shadow was dead.

The sobs came from somewhere deep within her, and Cari couldn't help the noise they made. Dimly, she realized that Fleet was performing a spell behind her, but her attention was focused elsewhere. A beautiful heron, glowing slightly white, tapped curiously at her knee before circling back to the Headmistress. The refracted light left the Quidditch pitch and minutes slipped away from Cari until she heard frantic-sounding voices in the area. The only thing she knew was that Shadow was lying in front of her, separated by only a few rapidly-ticking moments. It was so recent. It seemed there should be a way to reach back through that narrow barrier and grab Shadow back, reverse this horrible turn.

Doctor Combes knelt beside her, his blue-green gaze comforting, but Cari could see the fear and grief he tried to hide as he spoke. "Miss Romana... Cari, Cari, we need to get you to the Hospital Building. Come on, Cari, it's time to let go of him."

Abruptly, Cari realized that the doctor was trying to pull her fingers out from where they had bunched in the front of Shadow's robes. She merely tightened her grip and blocked out Combes' voice, focusing all of her attention on her friend. Dimly, she heard the raised tones of an argument coming from behind her but paid no attention. There was nothing they could do for him, so they weren't worth paying attention to.

"I'm sorry, I am out of options. I'll have to-"

"I understand. Proceed."

The quiet _stupefy_ was the last thing Cari heard before black took over her vision and the distantly swirling thoughts fluttered placidly into the dark void.

Cari's eyes flickered open for a second, enough to see the ceiling of the Hospital Building. She was dressed in a loose, ugly gown, tucked under the sheets of one of the beds. There was a slight ache in her left elbow, and Cari twisted her arm up to find a long, deep scratch running down the underside of her forearm from elbow to wrist. Memories of the broom, Shadow, and being stunned crashed into her one after another, leaving her sobbing noiselessly only because she didn't have the air to make sound.

It took several minutes to realize that she wasn't the only one crying. "Fine," a soft voice said. Cari vaguely remembered another muffled argument taking place prior to this, but hadn't thought to pay attention to the topic. "If you have to see her, please avoid upsetting her more than is possible. I understand that you are going through an emotional trauma, but she is as well."

Doctor Combes approached Cari's bed from the direction of the Hospital's entrance. "Cari, you have some guests." He gestured to a couple Cari recognized as being Shadow's parents, Shaw and Mariana. "They've asked to have a word with you." Combes leaned slightly closer, teal gaze intense. "If you start to feel tired or overwhelmed at all, just call and let me know. Understood?"

Cari nodded and he withdrew to the office, where he could keep an eye on them even as he gave them a sense of privacy. Cari stared at Shadow's parents, unable to make the first move, despite feeling as though she should. Shadow's mother quivered slightly and her husband guided her to sit in the chair at Cari's bedside. Mariana took a moment to compose herself before asking, "Cari- are you hurt?"

Shadow's father scoffed, opening lips turned white with the pressure of his clenched jaw. "Hurt?" he demanded bitterly. "How could she be hurt? She sat back and let my son- _our_ son, take the risk while she stayed safe on the ground. If only he had been as smart, it might have been her parents called to the school, her parents who had their life's joy ripped-"

Mariana elbowed her husband harder than Cari had thought possible. "Shaw! How could you ever wish such a thing on anyone? Especially her? He loved her!" She turned to Cari, eyes wide and earnestly searching. "He _loved_ you."

Cari didn't know how to respond to the unspoken question in Mariana's eyes. "I-" she made desperate eye contact with Combes in the office and he immediately joined them. Subtly, he began to usher the Hales out of the Hospital Building. She could hear the doctor making polite excuses and offering condolences along the way, but he was back shortly.

"I am so sorry, Miss Romana. I know you are suffering as well, but I didn't have it in me to deny the request of two grieving parents. I didn't know they were going to upset you so much." As he said the last, Combes offered a box of tissues to Cari. Realizing she was crying once again, Cari gratefully accepted and began to wipe her face. While she did so, Doctor Combes waved his wand in a diagnostic spell. "As I thought, you're still in a state of mild shock. I'm going to have a hot cup of tea brought to you and then I want you to try and get some sleep."

Cari slept fitfully all night – at least, until Combes gave her a mild sleeping potion. She was released from the hospital building in the early afternoon, but missed all of her classes during the remainder of the day. Combes had made her promise to stay resting in her dorm room for the rest of the day. He had also warned, "I'm going to tell your dorm-mates and anyone else who may be visiting that you are not, under any circumstances, to be put under stress."

She changed into an old pair of sweatpants and a ratty tee shirt, put away all the photos that decorated the walls – Shadow was in too many of them – and collapsed onto her bed before the knock on the door sounded. She opened it to find Professor Fleet waiting outside.

Kindly, the Headmistress didn't comment on Cari's appearance. "Miss Romana, may I come in?" Cari moved back, allowing Fleet to enter. "I tried to catch you before you were released from the hospital building, but I was unavoidably detained." She followed Cari back into her room. Cari flopped onto the bed while Fleet delicately perched on one of the desk chairs. She avoided Cari's gaze as she twisted one foot around and around at the ankle, bracing the heel of her shoe on the floor to act as an axis. Finally she said, "Cari, do you want to stay here at Echowick?"

Cari gaped. "Are you kicking me out?"

"No!" Fleet's eyes snapped to Cari's face. "I just thought that you might prefer to go home for the rest of the year. You've been through a trauma and shouldn't have to deal with any more of it. We can give your final exams over the next day if you choose, and you would be free to return home at that time."

"What, remove myself from the situation?" Cari heard the flat tone of her voice, but it was rapidly gaining a hard edge. "Sorry, Professor. You can't just kick me out to make things easier."

"Miss Romana, I don't believe you fully understand the situation. You're in shock and will be facing questions and odd looks until at least the end of this school year, perhaps even assigned blame. You may feel fine now, but in truth, you are looking at a difficult time. Removing yourself from the situation may indeed prove to be the best option."

"Professor, I made a mistake and might never forgive myself, but leaving Echowick early would seem like I don't own up to my actions. After what happened, I think I need to stay here, at least for a little while. If people are rude, so be it. I deserve it and more." She smiled half-heartedly at the Headmistress after fighting back a sob. "Besides, it's only for a couple more weeks, right?" The smile wavered as tears sprang to her eyes and Cari excused herself. Fleet stood just inside the apartment's door, watching the bathroom door sadly for a few minutes before quietly exiting the dorm.

The next day was rough. It was a Friday and being in Building 7 was slowly killing her inside. Every time Professor Gregory spoke, it was as though she was seeing Shadow's death again. Asher and Ransom didn't speak to her, even going so far as to avoid her gaze, though whether from accusation or awkwardness, she didn't know. When they took their break for lunch, Cari made her excuses to the understanding Professor Gregory and returned to her room, curling up in bed and sleeping for the rest of the afternoon. _Thank you, Doctor Combes, for the Dreamless Sleep Elixir…_

She woke to the sounds of Lydia returning to the room after changing out of her school robes. It was the first time Cari had seen her roommate since the accident, and she wasn't sure what to say. How could she look Lydia in the eye? As it turned out, she didn't have to. Without a word, Lydia had turned and left the room, probably headed to dinner. Cari went back to sleep.

When she became aware again, Lydia was walking into the room. "Oh, you're awake," she said, coolly. She held out a plate wrapped in aluminum foil. "Fleet said you haven't eaten much today and asked me to bring this to you."

Cari thanked her roommate, who nodded shortly and left again. Cari picked at the steamed vegetables and rice, but pushed the plate away after only a few bites. Ignoring the tears trickling from her eyes, she drifted once again.

Waking with a start, Cari sat bolt upright in bed. Nothing moved in the room, but visions of the broom crash still exploded behind her eyes. Lydia had closed the window and was asleep in her own bed, facing firmly toward the wall. Knowing that she would never fall back asleep, Cari stood, already dressed. Putting on the shoes sitting beside the bed, she silently walked out of the front door. The door to Shadow and Eric's dorm, directly across the hall, was beautifully wrapped in delicate black crepe paper. A shelf had been magically set into the wall next to the door, and on it sat a framed picture of Shadow. A candle was lit on either side, and the rest of the wall was covered in notes of condolence to Shadow's family and roommates.

Slightly openmouthed, Cari walked forward. She had known that Shadow was well-liked, but this show of support was impressive. A fingertip gently touched Shadow's smiling face on the photograph and he laughed, moving slightly to the side. Cari gasped, choking back a sob. She turned, ready to rush back to her apartment, but stopped short.

Her own door was covered in ugly black graffiti, most of which appeared to be insults, death threats, and slurs against Cari's blood. Large letters in red spray paint lay underneath all the rest of the writing, proclaiming Cari's 'Crime Against Echowick'. In vivid, mostly incorrect detail, the accident was described. It was offensive, but the only truly frightening part was the large knife thrust deep into the wall next to the door, directly at the level of her head. Trying to convince herself that the height was a coincidence rather than the result of the placer being someone who knew her personally, Cari decided to return to her bed and wait for the grief and shock to recede. Then she would figure out just what she was going to do.

* * *

Author's Note \- I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. (For any fans of the Tenth Doctor, I'm also sorry for using that quote.) I've been dreading this chapter since the beginning, but it was the second part of this story that I wrote and has been a major plot point since then - maybe even _the_ major plot point of the whole thing. If it makes you feel any better, I cried when I wrote this and have gotten choked up every time I had to edit it. If you see any mistakes, it's probably because I couldn't stand to look at this chapter any more. If you can forgive me enough to keep reading, I'm posting Chapter 51 later today and I would love for you to read it. Thanks to HarryPotterFanHermione, ghostcrab311, and Ashes-To-Diamonds for their recent reviews. I'm sorry again!


	51. An Unwelcome Decision

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do now own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related works, characters, settings, situations, or materials. Those all belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the elements of this story that are original, and I make no money from writing or posting this story.

* * *

An Unwelcome Decision

Saturday proved to be even worse than Friday had been. Lydia continued to spend the bare minimum of time with Cari and only speak to her when absolutely necessary. On the way to meals or the library, Cari was tripped and had a variety of threats or insults shouted at her. It was bullying like she hadn't experienced since her first few months at Echowick, but it wasn't like she didn't deserve every bit of abuse.

She hadn't seen any of her friends since the accident. _They're probably avoiding me_ , Cari realized morosely. _Not that I can blame them_. The tears were almost constant now, brought on by the continuous mentions of Shadow by other students, whether in passing or hurled angrily at her like rocks. No one seemed to believe that it had been an accident, but why Cari would want to hurt one of her closest friends, she couldn't figure out. Those who weren't actively blaming her for Shadow still didn't stand up for her. Instead, they kept their heads down, avoided eye contact, and kept walking.

By the end of the weekend, Cari had begun to regret her refusal to return home. Echowick was turning into the kind of place she didn't want to live anymore. Monday morning, she woke, dressed, and ate an apple she had brought back from dinner the day before so that she wouldn't have to face the sea of unfriendly faces before class.

Cari had barely stepped into Survival when a roar stopped her in her tracks. "Romana!" Cari stiffened instinctively, whipping around to stare at Mr. Kreer. He strode commandingly toward her and she shrank down until he brushed straight past to stand next to her desk. The rest of the students in the class watched with rapt attention as he pulled out his wand, muttered a spell, and lit the end of his wand with a harsh golden light. Cari felt a flash of memory to the end of the year before, especially as he began moving the wand closer to the seat. When he touched the surface of her chair, the wandlight turned the familiar sickly gray, this time sparking with reddish flares of light. Cari had only a moment to think, _That isn't a good sign_ before Mr. Kreer hissed out a vivid string of swear words.

"Professor, what is it?" Cari had gathered all of her nerve to ask, hoping that it was just another jinx that made the searching spell react differently for some reason. Her favorite professor fixed her with an intense gaze, killing that hope before he stepped aside, gesturing at her seat as he did so. The air just above the seat twinkled with slow red pinpricks of light, fading in and out in a fascinating pattern. It was beautiful, but Cari could sense the danger in it. Her hands itched to touch the small, glittering cloud, but Kreer kept her back with a hand on her shoulder. Without pulling her eyes away from the desk, she asked again, "What is it?"

"That, Miss Romana, is a curse. There's no definite way of knowing which curse unless you touch and activate it, but trust me when I say that it's one you don't want to experience. Someone's trying to injure you – maybe even kill you." He glared around the room at the suddenly-busy students and lowered his voice, speaking only to Cari. "I've been in here all morning and this curse probably took a while to place. This took planning, and may not have been set by someone in this room. Have you thought about leaving Echowick for a little while?"

Staring at the innocently-twinkling lights above her chair, Cari let out a soft sigh. "I'm considering it now, sir."

Kreer nodded approvingly and raised his voice to project through the room. "Class is cancelled for the day. Be sure to read chapter twenty-three; it _will_ be on your final!" Between the mutters and stifled jubilation of the students, Mr. Kreer said, "Let's get you to Fleet's office."

Though Cari felt safer with the large, gruff professor at her side than she had felt in days, she could still see the pointed glares of her fellow students promising that, if he hadn't been walking next to her, this would be quite a dangerous walk. When they had finally passed through the Warded Woods, she allowed herself a small shudder. Keeping his eyes firmly on the path, Kreer patted her shoulder comfortingly.

They made it to Professor Fleet's office in a short time and without incident. A few moments after Mr. Kreer knocked sharply on the door, the Headmistress pulled it open with a surprised look on her face. "Professor Kreer. What may I do for you?" Silently, he stepped aside to reveal Cari and Fleet's face softened into an expression of regretful understanding. "Ah. Please, come in."

As Cari was choosing a seat, Kreer explained what had happened in his classroom. After he finished, he turned, leveling a searching look at Cari. "Is this the first time you've been threatened this way?"

"Well, technically, this wasn't a threat…"

"Romana! I do not have time to play word games. This wasn't a verbal threat, but make no mistake, it was a threat of the gravest kind. We have no idea what that curse would have done to you. It could have been a literal attempt on your life."

"Okay," Cari agreed, and began telling them about the 'decorations' that had been gracing her door lately.

When the explanation was done, Kreer heaved a heavy sigh. "Fleet? You know what needs to be done here."

"Indeed," the Headmistress agreed. "Cari, I told you once before that Echowick may not be a safe place for you right now. Now that you have seen that first-hand, is there any way you may be persuaded to return home for the rest of the year?"

Cari grimaced. "Under the circumstances, I think it would probably be best. When am I leaving?"

Professor Fleet and Mr. Kreer exchanged glances before saying in unison, "Immediately." Noting that Cari looked taken aback, Fleet said gently, "Of course, you will have time to pack while I notify your father of the decision. In fact, now may be the best time, while everyone is in class."

Kreer checked his watch. "Yes, but first period is already almost over. I had better be on my way back." He looked from Fleet to Cari. "I can escort you back to your dorm, since you live in the Physical Wing."

Cari gratefully agreed and they set off for the main campus. She was slightly ashamed when her favorite professor stood outside her door, staring at the graffiti, painted thicker than ever across the door and surrounding walls. With a slightly-muffled curse, Kreer made a few stabbing gestures with his wand, scouring the writing away. When the only thing left was the knife, he yanked it from the wall and transfigured it into a rose. He turned, laying it in front of Shadow's picture. In a tone oddly formal for his gruff voice, he said softly, "May the things done for evil be always turned to the promotion of good."

He turned back to Cari, asking, "Do you want me to cancel my second class? I can escort you back to Fleet's office…"

"No, I think I've taken up enough of your time for one day," Cari said, before adding, "Thank you for the offer, though."

He waved away her thanks and stuck out a hand. "Take care of yourself, Cari. None of this was your fault. You just rest up and enjoy your summer, okay?" Cari nodded, shaking his hand. Impulsively, she gave him a quick hug and said goodbye before he could see her tears, rushing into the apartment to pack.

When everything was packed, Cari had only a duffel bag and her backpack. All the rest of her belongings had been left to Lydia or thrown away. Turning, she caught sight of the time on Lydia's wall clock. She didn't have very long until the second class of the day let out, and she would rather be safely in Professor Fleet's office by the time students were going to be around the campus.

With fifteen minutes to spare, Cari backed out of her apartment door, locking it behind her before slipping the key into her pocket. She turned to walk up the stairs, but came face-to-face with a group of older girls. "Excuse me," she murmured, trying to slip past them.

Once she had reached the middle of the group, they closed around her. "So… you're the little third-year whore who killed Shadow."

"Whore? I am not a whore. Shadow's death was an accident and I'll never be able to live with myself, but how does that make me a whore?"

"A little murderer, then."

"Yeah, and if you can't live with yourself, I think I can figure out a solution for you…"

The group drew tighter together around Cari. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she realized that this could be it. These girls could beat her severely – maybe even to death – and no one would come along until it was too late. One of the girls drew a fist back and Cari braced for the impact, but it never came.

"Headmistress Fleet sent me," a small voice said from a short distance away. "I'm supposed to bring her back."

"If you know what's good for you, little firstie, you'll leave and forget you ever saw us."

"No, thank you," the girl said politely. Her voice was high-pitched, but solemn and firm. "Professor Fleet told me right where to find her. Besides, if I'm not back in five minutes, she'll be sending the Echowick security guards to this very spot."

With plenty of hopeful mutters about trials and Dementors, the female students scattered. Softly, one said, "Don't think you're safe. No one will ever want to keep you around once they hear what you did."

The first year led the way up the stairs and toward the exterior hallway. When they had a bit of privacy, Cari studied the girl, who she now recognized as Tanya Murphy. Cari had seen Murphy around, but hadn't actually spoken to her since the flight lessons at the beginning of the year, though now seemed like a good time to restart. "Thanks, Murphy. I don't know what they would have done if you hadn't come along."

"Don't thank me," the girl replied shortly. "Fleet really did send me. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here." Murphy sighed and when she spoke again, her voice was soft. "Shadow was my friend. I want to hate you, but I know he would tell me I'm being an idiot." Eyes clear, she stared up at Cari as they walked. "I don't think we'll ever be friends, but I wouldn't have let them hurt you."

There was really nothing Cari could say to that, and the rest of their walk was spent in silence. Murphy escorted her to Fleet's door before turning back and leaving without another word.

The door to the Headmistress' office swung open before she had knocked even once. Professor Fleet and Cari's father were both waiting inside the spacious room. "Miss Romana!" Fleet exclaimed, hurrying across the room. "We were beginning to worry. It's been a long time since you left."

"Did something happen, Cari?" her father asked.

She shook her head. "I think something was about to, but Murphy got there in time to stop it." Shoulders slumping, she asked, "Do I have to take my finals today? So much has happened, and I- I just don't know if I have it in me."

"No, no, of course not! I was actually going to suggest that you take these home with you and finish them up some time this week. I can come to collect them when they're completed." The gentle tone in Professor Fleet's voice was about to push Cari over the edge, so she forced herself to focus on a more painful subject.

"What am I going to do about my Broomsmith final? The whittling, the twig-work… all of it was built into that broom."

For the first time that day, Professor Fleet looked uncomfortable. "Well, technically, you did make a flyable broom. I can vouch for you with Professor Gregory that the parts in question were well-handled." She paused for a moment, searching Cari's face. "Miss Romana, your broom, though obviously flawed, was a revelation in concept and design, not to mention being extremely advanced for someone as young as you. Are you sure you would not like to keep it?"

Cari felt her face harden into serious lines. "Burn it."

"But, Miss Ro-"

"I said burn it. It's cursed. It'll always be cursed and I see no reason to keep it around, taking up space. Are these the finals?" Professor Fleet nodded and Cari grabbed the stack of papers, striding out of the office without another word. Behind her, Fleet and Daniel exchanged nervous glances, but said nothing else as the Romanas left.

Cari didn't move when the house came into view. Before, she had always leaned forward, eager to get out and see her mother and Byron, but now, she stayed leaned back against the seat, the same way she had been sitting during the entire trip. Daniel had given up on making conversation less than five minutes into the trip, and Cari was glad. She didn't feel much like talking.

When she stood outside the house, Cari studied it with dispassionate eyes. _I wasn't here that long ago, but now… Everything has changed._ Wordlessly, she retrieved her things from the back of the car and made her way to the front door. Daniel let them in and Cari sent up a silent prayer that no one would be home. Despite this, she was still surprised to walk into an empty house, though didn't turn to ask any questions. There was another bout of tears lurking and she wanted to be far out of Daniel's sight before they began to fall.

After Cari was safely hidden away in her bedroom, she sobbed openly, knowing her father could hear, but not caring. It had been the longest week of her life, filled with more sadness and fear than any other she could remember, yet as the crying stopped, all Cari felt was numb. It seemed to her that she was seeing the world through a film, a layer of cotton wrapped tightly to protect her fragile self. Everything Cari had ever learned about shock and going through crises told her this was a very bad thing, but she was grateful. Though she felt distant and mindless, the guilt over Shadow's death had receded somewhat, and this was worth everything to her. She didn't know how long exactly she had sat, staring blankly at the wall in front of her, but before Cari could bring herself to do anything else or even think too deeply, she was asleep.

Something, either the familiar surroundings of home or the lack of fear for the first time in nearly a week, put Cari into a dreamless sleep. There were no thoughts, no images, no shouts or blame, and this feeling of blessed, abrupt weightlessness drew Cari deeper and deeper in. For what felt like days, she stayed in bed, alternating between sleep and staring at the ceiling. She had no appetite to speak of and – after not having a meal in days – no reason to go to the bathroom.

Finally, there was a soft knock on the door. Cari, lying in the rigid position she had been in since first lying down, couldn't muster the strength to answer, but the door opened regardless. For a wild moment, Cari thought it would be Shadow, but it was her father.

"Cari?" Daniel asked softly, opening the door. "Honey, you've been up here, completely silent, for more than a full day. Any chance you want to come downstairs for a little while? I made some dinner."

Cari sat up, not bothering to smooth her hair or wipe her face. Mechanically, she slid to the edge of her bed and stood, muscles stiff from a full day with no movement. Her father was still watching her expectantly, so Cari said hoarsely, "I need to work on my finals anyway."

"No." She looked up at her father in surprise. Not do her finals? Daniel continued looking stern. "You need to drink some water, eat something, and have a semi-coherent conversation before you can even think about touching school stuff. If you're not downstairs in ten minutes, I'll come back up and make puns until you come with me. Consider yourself warned."

Daniel's smile seemed somewhat forced, but Cari's answering smile was forced as well, so who was she to judge? Either way, when she moved toward the hall bathroom, it seemed to pacify him, and he walked back down the stairs.

When Cari did get into the bathroom, she wasted nearly five minutes starting at the mirror. Her eyes weren't even red anymore. Instead, they were the same washed-out white as her lips and cheeks. Hair hung everywhere from the knotted tangle rising up behind her head, though she couldn't get the full effect through dull eyes that refused to open fully. Even after this disheartening examination, Cari couldn't scrape up the effort to change anything about her appearance. Instead, she simply turned and left the bathroom, realizing belatedly that she had no reason to have gone into the room in the first place.

Dinner with Daniel was a brutal affair. He tried repeatedly to make jokes, tell interesting stories, and ask about her friends – with one notable exception – but other than an occasional, tired lift of the lips, Cari couldn't bring herself to react in any particular way. Distantly, she appreciated the effort Daniel was putting into cheering her up, but fighting her way back to the state of mind to answer him seemed impossible. It was far easier to stay wrapped in her cotton cocoon, tucked safely away from the world.

Eventually, Cari's dad gave up, ushering her to the living room with a glass of water in hand. Cari sat obligingly on the couch and looked at the television screen, but had no recollection of what had been playing. Shortly afterward, Daniel gave up. "I'm going to bed, Licaria. I hope you start feeling better soon." Before Cari could protest that she was grieving, not sick with the flu, he had left the room.

With nothing better to do, Cari sat at the low coffee table and pulled the stack of final exams toward her. Studying for a future Broomsmith career might be over, but surely good grades would make the transition to another field easier. A long time later, she pushed the last of the pages away from her. A quick glance at the clock showed the time at 4:37 am. Cari's eyes burned, but she knew without trying that she would never be able to sleep. Hours left alone with only her thoughts for company sounded like something to be avoided at all costs, and yet, how could she ever hope to escape her own mind? Reluctantly, Cari retreated to her room and fell into a fitful, trance-like doze.

At some point the next day, Daniel came to her room, letting her know that Fleet had been called to come and pick up the finished exams. The Echowick Headmistress was slated to arrive within an hour. Cari didn't respond to this piece of trivia, choosing to keep staring at the wall instead. Nothing disturbed her until voices could be heard as people climbed the stairs. When Cari rolled over to see what was happening, the unexpected sight of Fleet standing in her bedroom was enough to make her sit up and surprise her into speaking.

"The finals are downstairs."

"I know," Professor Fleet said, moving to the side as Daniel entered the room as well. She folded her hands in front of her before continuing. "Picking up your exams is only a small part of my visit. After all, an owl could have retrieved your tests."

Cari waited inattentively for the headmistress to continue listing reasons, but she didn't add anything further. Cari watched the woman for several long moments before summoning the will to ask, "Then what else did you come for?"

Though she had obviously been expecting the question, Fleet's brows drew together in a faint frown. "I came, Miss Romana, to check up on you and to discuss our plans for your future."

"Future?" Cari laughed humorlessly. "I don't have a future right now. I can't go into Broomsmithery now that my reputation has been irreparably tainted. I had to leave school because everyone hates me. I even chased away my own family. I haven't seen my mom or Byron since I've been here."

Fleet turned, eyebrows raised, to look questioningly at Daniel, who only shrugged sheepishly. "Ah," she said shortly. "Well, all of that aside, I believe you do still have a future, Licaria, though it will take some orchestration if we are to be able to fix things completely."

The energy required to keep her head up was too much, and Cari let it slump to the side. "You've figured out a way to bring dead people back to life, then?"

"Well, no." Fleet looked flustered, but quickly grew stern. "There is no magic which can bring the dead to life, and it is unwise even to attempt such dark-"

"Then I don't know why we're talking about this!" Cari interrupted.

"Because, Miss Romana," Fleet said, voice steely, "I believe I have come up with a solution. Something that could solve all of the problems." The room grew silent and Fleet breathed a single word: "Hogwarts."

* * *

Author's Note \- So. Still mad at me? That's okay. I'm mad at me, too. How dare I? Unfortunately, we have to keep the plot moving forward as much as possible and for that, things have to happen. Sometimes, they're painful things. I don't like it, either. Anyway, I deliberately posted this chapter because it introduces Hogwarts to Cari - at least, as more than an odd-sounding name. Things are going to be happening soon. Get excited! Let me hear what you're thinking! Also, I'm going to post another chapter on Thursday because I still feel bad. Thanks for reading this and I hope to see you all as Cari's journey keeps moving forward, but I understand if you want to think up your own ending to Chapter Fifty and ignore me from here on out. Whichever way you choose, have a great day!


	52. Fleeing

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related materials, characters, settings, or situations. I own only the original elements of this story. All else belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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Fleeing

"Hogwarts," Cari repeated, failing to keep the skepticism from her voice. "I don't know what that is, but it really doesn't sound like the kind of thing that could solve anyone's problems." A memory seemed to echo distantly through her mind. "Wait, isn't that the school Sh-… The school he was going to transfer to?"

Ignoring his daughter, Daniel merely asked, "Have you spoken to Dumbledore about this yet?" Surprised by the faint note of hope in his voice, Cari turned to look at her father for the first time since Fleet's arrival. The optimistic tone was mirrored by the shine in his eyes.

"Indeed, I have. Nearly one year ago, in fact." Before Daniel could ask for an explanation, Fleet spoke again. "How much do you know about the Triwizard Tournament?"

Daniel furrowed his brows. "I'm familiar with it. Enough to know the basics, anyway. But what does that have to do with Cari?"

Fleet sighed, moving her gaze to her hands. "Dumbledore negotiated a Triwizard Tournament to take place at Hogwarts next year. Preparations, naturally, began several years ago, but the heads of other schools were only notified recently. Well, with the safety of students at stake, Dumbledore thought it would be best for only European schools to participate, but I want our students to be part of a global community, so we set up an exchange program between Echowick and Hogwarts for this year."

Only vaguely following along with the conversation, Cari was still able to glean that they were talking about sending her away to a foreign school. "Hey! Can someone please explain to me what's going on before shipping me off to another country?"

Daniel looked to Fleet, who waved him on. He turned to Cari. "There are other magical schools in the world, though no more than a few on each continent. Hogwarts is one of the European schools. What the headmistress is saying is that you could go there this year instead of Echowick. You would stay caught up in school, experience another culture, meet a bunch of new people… There just isn't a down side."

"Uh, except that I would have to go to a whole different school in a place I've never been so I can be around people I've never met. That sounds like a few down sides."

Professor Fleet frowned. "Miss Romana, you are being dramatic."

"Am I? Isn't it enough that I have no friends left and no future career? Do I really have to leave the school and teachers that I'm already familiar with?" Fleet's face remained stern and Cari experienced a wave of real fear that she would have to leave the country. To be sent home from school was humiliating enough, but to be kicked out of Echowick altogether? Faced with a lack of options, she continued insisting to her father and headmistress. "If it's because no one likes me, it's fine! I'm used to being bullied. I don't expect to have friends or for it to be easy, but please don't send me away!"

After the girl's outburst, Fleet's face twisted with pity. "I'm sorry, Cari," she said gently. "We may not have a choice." She cast an uncomfortable glance at Daniel, who looked away. "I didn't wish to tell you this, but returning to Echowick this year might prove to be impossible. The threats toward you come at least once every day. You have heard of the troubles one of the European schools is having?" Vaguely remembering something about this, Cari nodded. "Well, some of the students have expressed their desire that the monster from that school would come to Echowick for one last student." Cari winced and Fleet gave her a look of apology. "That is the least graphic of the threats. I feel you need to know the type of reception you are likely to receive should you choose to return."

Cari swallowed, but couldn't keep the resigned pain from her voice. "So, that's it, then. No hope for it, no choice. If I want to live, I can't go back. I have to leave."

Fleet rested a hand on Cari's shoulder. "I know that it serves no useful purpose, but I feel the need to apologize once again. If there were any way to change this, please know that I would do it without question."

Cari shook her head, giving the Headmistress a watery smile. "It's not your fault. It's no one's fault but mine. I wanted to test my idea more than I wanted to keep everyone safe and it was the biggest mistake I'll ever make."

While Daniel and Fleet continued talking, making plans for Cari's immediate future, she did her best to swallow another round of tears. Obviously noticing this, Professor Fleet cut the conversation short to make her excuses and leave the room, Daniel trailing along to 'show her out'. Cari almost smiled at the obvious bid to be away from the daughter he didn't know how to comfort, but Daniel's hurry to be out of her room was enough to keep her serious.

Sighing, she looked around the familiar room, ignoring the hastily-packed bag shoved in the corner. Briefly, she thought that she could simply take that bag to her new school, but then realized that Hogwarts might have different requirements about clothing and almost certainly would have different books assigned. _Huh,_ she thought blandly. _Guess I really am going to leave._ With this thought, Cari had eased back down to curl up under her covers. Daniel came back into the room some time later and began speaking without preamble.

"I spoke to your aunt. She says she can come to pick you up tomorrow morning. I think it would be best to get you settled at her house as soon as possible."

"What?" Cari asked, head hanging off the side of the mattress. "My aunt? Like, Aunt Esther? Why is she coming to get me?"

"No, not Aunt Esther. My sister, your Aunt Katherine. We were just talking about this, Cari. Don't tell me you weren't listening." Daniel was obviously trying to contain his frustration, but it was still apparent to Cari.

"Who just talked about this? It must have been you and Fleet because I don't remember agreeing to anything about staying somewhere else, much less with some random relative I've never met." The sudden anger gave her enough energy to push herself upright. "Why are you sending me away, Dad? Isn't it enough that I'm leaving the country in a couple of months? You need to get rid of me even sooner?"

Daniel sat on the edge of the bed, scrubbing a hand down over his face. "Have you wondered where your mother and Byron are?" Cari stayed silent, sensing some kind of a trap ahead. It didn't matter, since her father continued regardless. "It all started on Thursday, when Headmistress Fleet contacted me with the news about what had happened. I wanted to come get you immediately, but Fleet said that you insisted upon staying at Echowick. I thought about the whole situation when I went to sleep that night, but was woken up when Byron had a nightmare. I went to talk to him about it, and do you know what he said to me?"

Cari could only stare silently at her father, a cold tendril of fear rolling through her stomach. He sighed. "He looked up at me, fear in his eyes, and said, 'She's going to kill me next. She'll kill me just like she killed Shadow.'" Cari flinched involuntarily at Shadow's name, but Daniel didn't seem to notice. "I Obliviated him, but the same thing happened Friday night. And Saturday night after that, the same thing happened. When it happened once more on Sunday, I began to worry about what this was doing to his memory and decided the best plan of action was to send them away for a few days, which was especially good when you chose to return home."

"I love you, Licaria, and I would far rather you be here and safe rather than in danger at Echowick, but I can't expose your brother to that kind of fear, not if there's another way. But Byron and your mother are supposed to come back the day after tomorrow and I'm afraid you can't be here when they get home. Your Aunt Katherine offered to take you in for the summer, just until it's time for you to leave for Hogwarts." Cari couldn't force herself to say anything in response to that. The guilt and pain were too busy taking their toll on her insides. It was no matter; Daniel had already risen from the bed and was walking steadily toward the door.

Just before he slipped out of the room, Daniel stopped and – without turning around – said, "I hope you will be able to forgive me, Cari, and see that this is what's best for our family."

Left with only her thorny feelings and the echo of her father's words for company, Cari soon allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

As she packed up all of her belongings, Cari wished for a return to the numbness she had previously experienced. Instead of the comfortable blankness, there was a wild tangle of feelings fighting to make their way out into the world, but Cari knew they would only poison the air. With reluctance, she tucked her last shirt into the magically-expanded suitcase. The most depressing part of the process was the collection of winter things packed at the bottom. The carefully-folded sweaters and thick socks only served to drive the point home that she wouldn't be coming back here any time soon.

Realizing she couldn't put it off any longer, Cari sighed, slammed the suitcase closed, and grabbed it. Featherweight charms were the only reason she could lift it, but the bag still had some weight. Maybe that was only because of the importance of its contents. Cari made her way down the stairs, refusing to dwell on the situation any longer. _In any case, there's plenty of time for that later,_ she thought grimly.

When she got downstairs, Cari set her suitcase down next to the fireplace and sat on the arm of the couch. Daniel – sitting in a chair across the room – shifted, the slight noise emphasizing the stifling silence. Just as Cari's ears began to buzz, her father cleared his throat. "Your Aunt Katherine should be here soon," he said, glancing expectantly at the fireplace.

Not bothering to look at the empty fireplace, Cari simply nodded and stared determinedly at the floor. Apparently no more comfortable with the quiet than before, Daniel spoke again. "I think you'll really like Aunt Katherine. She's a lovely person."

Cari let out a dry laugh at that. Daniel stared. "Yeah, such a lovely person that you never bothered to bring her around. Now I'm going to stay with her, but it doesn't matter if I like her or not, since it'll only be for a few months until I'm sent off to a boarding school in another country because I'm too much of a problem otherwise."

Daniel sighed. "Cari, you know there's no other choice…"

"How about letting me see how things go with Byron before sending me to live with someone I've never met? That seems like a great start."

"Licaria, I want to do what's best for you, but you aren't the only one in this household I have to think about when important decisions are made!"

"Yeah, most importantly, yourself. You don't want me around because I might give up your precious secret and expose the double life you've been living for literally the entire time Mom has known you."

"That's enough out of you, Licaria!"

Cari laughed mirthlessly. "I guess it'll have to be since it's time for darling Aunt Katherine to whisk me away and I don't know when – or even if – I'll see you again."

Daniel's response to that was cut off by a green flash of light from the fireplace. A slender woman of average height stepped gracefully from the hearth and began dusting off her black, well-cut blazer. A bright blue shirt flashed above the top button, adding a hint of color that brought out the blue in her eyes, almost the way it did with Cari's. She had dark hair as well, pulled up into an elegant bun.

"Katherine! I'm so glad you could make it."

"Naturally, though you know how the Floo can be," Katherine rolled her eyes and greeted her brother with a handshake before turning. "And this must be Licaria."

The firm handshake with her aunt gave Cari time to study her newfound relative. Katherine was younger than she would have expected, yet gave off the impression of being extraordinarily proper. In a twisted kind of way, she almost reminded Cari of Mary Poppins, but without any hint of possible fun. It was going to be a long summer.

Katherine spotted Cari's suitcase and scooped it up. "I will carry this for you. Have you ever traveled by the Floo Network before?"

Cari shook her head as Daniel began to protest. "Surely you don't have to leave already! You just got here and I haven't seen you in years. Can I get you a cup of coffee or something? We can chat for a while, catch up…"

"No, Daniel. I'm sorry, but I do have rather a lot of work to do at home and I need to return as quickly as possible."

"Some other time then," Daniel said softly. He moved to stand in front of Cari. "I'm going to miss you, honey." She stood stiffly while he hugged her, but gave in after a moment, hugging him back desperately. She had meant what she said, and was frightened by the realization that she didn't know when she would see her father again.

They broke apart, Cari fighting tears. "I'll miss you, too, Dad." She looked to Katherine, standing awkwardly by the fireplace and still holding Cari's suitcase. "I'm ready to leave when you are, Aunt Katherine."

Katherine briefly explained how the Floo Network was navigated and stepped into the fireplace, clearly speaking the address of her home in Chicago. She spun, disappearing. Cari stepped in afterward and, with one last smile to her father, copied her aunt. There was a new life waiting.

Cari stepped into her aunt's apartment, glancing around warily. It didn't match the style she assumed Katherine would prefer. Instead of stark, classy, or austere, everything from the paint to the furniture was trendy and comfortable, each piece belonging in its unique, eclectic way. It wasn't that Cari didn't like Katherine's home. In fact, she thought it should be featured in one of the home design shows Shadow used to make them all watch. But Katherine seemed the type who would go a completely different direction when it came to interior decorating.

The woman in question set down Cari's suitcase and began pointing things out to her young niece. "There's the kitchen, pantry off of that with a washer and dryer. That door is to the bathroom, which we'll have to share, and that hallway leads to the bedrooms. Mine is on the left and yours will be the one on the right. Any questions?"

Cari shook her head. "No, Aunt Katherine."

"Oh, kid," Katherine said with a laugh. "You don't have to be that formal. Please, just call me Kat." Completely taken aback, Cari could only stare blankly at her father's younger sister. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Kat furrowed her dark brows and gestured at her entire body. "Is all of this throwing you off?"

In one smooth motion, Kat unbound her bun, releasing thick, dark hair that hung in riotous curls. Rather than relying on the weight of the hair to control the curls as Cari did, Kat's hair was cut at a length that encouraged bouncing and movement. She unbuttoned her elegant blazer, spreading it wide to reveal that the blue shirt was actually an incredibly wrinkled silk camisole. She grimaced good-naturedly. "I slept in this. Just woke up in time to Floo over to your dad's house. And this skirt?" She tugged at the knee-length skirt until it rested on the floor and she stood in a pair of shorts. Scooping the skirt from her feet, Kat smoothed it over her torso. "This is actually a mini-dress. It's really cute when you wear it, you know… with the chest at your chest."

None of this helped Cari's mental health, and the girl could still do nothing but sputter. In a far more gentle tone, Kat said, "I was only eleven when you were born, Cari. I know that seems like an eternity of difference, but I'm not exactly wasting away here, you know?"

She seemed to be waiting for a response, so Cari just shook her head slowly and tried to gather her thoughts. "I thought you looked pretty young, but… How? How did you fool my dad so well? You were like a totally different person back then."

"Well, first off, thank you for saying I look young." Kat took a moment to grin and fluff her hair, fluttering her eyelashes all the while. Cari couldn't quite fight back a smile as her strange aunt continued. "Second, your father and I haven't seen each other in years. Actually, not since you were a baby. It's easy to lose track of someone's personality when that much time has passed."

"Fair point," Cari conceded with a shrug. She stared down at her suitcase, still resting by the fireplace. "Do you mind if I take my stuff to my room now? It's been a long couple of days."

Though she was watching closely, Cari didn't see the usual flicker of pity cross Kat's face as she had expected. Was it possible she didn't know what had happened? Instead, Kat just nodded agreeably and offered to help with the unpacking. Cari thanked her but insisted that she was fine. Left alone once more, Cari flopped down on the surprisingly comfortable bed and fell asleep, silent tears slipping out as she did so.

She was woken up by a knock on the door. It took Cari a moment to remember where she was, then another one to remember how to speak. It had been a solid nap. When she finally called out an assortment of syllables, the door cracked open and Kat's head appeared in the room. The woman's gaze took in everything, but she said nothing about the still-packed suitcase lying on the ground. "Hey, it's getting pretty late. Are you hungry or anything yet? I don't want anyone to think I'm starving you!"

She laughed awkwardly, but Cari only shook her head. "I'm not, sorry. I hope you didn't put too much time into making dinner."

Kat rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, yeah… I'm not really the 'domestic' type. When I said "food", I meant "let's go find some"." She looked back at Cari, face breaking out into a sudden grin. "Now that you know you don't have to trust my cooking, are you in? I'm starving!"

"Um…" Cari cast around, trying to think of a polite reason to turn her aunt down, but nothing came to mind. "I guess so."

With that, they were off. Kat insisted on choosing the restaurant, eager to teach Cari about 'real food'. There was an uncomfortable moment when Cari realized that she didn't have any money, but Kat just waved her off. "Kid, if you think Daniel sent you to me without sending money along, you don't know him very well." She made a fair point, and Cari soon decided to try a slice of real, Chicago-style pizza. She didn't regret it.

Part of her reluctance to go anywhere with her aunt came from worry that she would be grilled about the incident, but Kat had yet to make a single reference to it. Instead, Cari and her aunt chatted about movies, music, hobbies, and anything else they could think up. Kat had seen nearly every movie ever made, played several instruments, and had traveled extensively. In short, she was a perfect distraction for Cari. After all, it was difficult to remember how miserable she was supposed to be while listening to an amusing story about a Peruvian goat who liked to steal hats.

By the time Kat and Cari finally returned to Kat's apartment, Cari felt like she had known Kat for years. She also was too exhausted to do anything more than dig pajamas and toiletries from her suitcase and crawl into bed, marking the first night since the incident that Shadow didn't dominate her dreams.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, now we're moving! As per usual with this story, the summer won't drag on very long, though you'll still get to spend some time with Cari's aunt. Kat is one of my very favorite characters and I can't wait for you all to get to know her! She's great for making things a little more light-hearted. Thanks to ghostcrab311, HarryPotterFanHermione, Ashes-To-Diamonds, and Falcon777 for their reviews. Your feedback is honestly appreciated. I'm going to get very real here, so skip ahead to the next paragraph if you have no interest. I suffered with some very intense indecision about Chapter Fifty. I actually was sitting in my car about a week ago, debating on whether I could rewrite things to end in a different way, but in the end, I had to be honest to the vision I had for this story - which is admittedly a little darker than I would have liked, but here we are, and things should be somewhat lighter from here on out. I sincerely thank you all for sharing your opinions on the things that happened and the way they were written. I take serious note of those comments and take them into account when I work on my writing style and habits. You'll never know how much I appreciate the critiquing!

And, we're back! Sorry, I didn't intend to write a long author's note, but I failed completely. Thanks for reading, drop me a review if you so choose, and I'll see you on Monday! Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!


	53. Chicago

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, materials, or situations. These are the sole property of J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing.

* * *

Chicago

The summer weeks spent at Kat's Chicago apartment flew by. As time passed, Cari grew closer to her aunt, close enough so that Kat seemed more like an older sister than something so formal as a parent's sibling. That isn't to say it was a smooth transition; rather, there were more than a few hiccups along the way.

One of the hiccups that proved to be the worst was when Kat noticed a teenage boy living in the apartment next door had been trying to catch Cari's attention. "Ooh, Cari," she had said with a wink and a nudge of the elbow. "Looks like you've got a cutie wanting to flirt with you. Why don't you walk over and see what he's up to? I have some work to finish up anyway."

Cari had shaken her head even as Kat finished speaking. "No, thanks. And it's really creepy that you think a teenager is cute."

"He's cute for you, not cute for me. It's only creepy if I have designs on the kid, which I don't. And give me one good reason for not going over there, Cari! He's a nice kid, and it's obvious he thinks you're cute, too." Kat's tone had turned wheedling as her convincing failed to budge Cari. "Come on! You haven't spoken to anyone outside this apartment since you got here. Give me one good reason you won't talk to the boy."

Cari had tried to laugh it off, but Kat's expression was serious. She had remained quietly watchful until Cari took a deep breath and muttered the truth. "He looks like Shadow." When she finally dared to look up at Kat, the woman looked lost. Cari had sighed and said, even more quietly, "The boy I killed before I left school."

"Oh," Kat had said simply, then shrugged. "Bummer. That's a 'no' then."

"Bummer?" Cari raged, instantly and uncontrollably furious. "I tell you the most horrifying, shame-inducing thing I've ever done, open my heart to you, and you say 'bummer'? That is so cruel! What kind of role model are you supposed to be? Why did they even send me here?"

Kat, to her credit, listened calmly to the girl's outburst. When Cari had finished venting, Kat lifted one shoulder. "I wasn't going to press you about any of it. I figured that, when you're ready to share, you would come to me." Cari, ashamed of her snap judgments and her shouting, stayed quiet. Kat added gently, "But just so we're clear, I'm a really good listener with a truly ridiculous amount of spare time. I'm ready when you are, hon."

Cari nodded and opened her mouth to thank her aunt when the story just poured out. Her feelings for Shadow, only telling him the broomstick idea because she wanted to impress him, having to face his parents, being asked to go home from school early, being ordered off to Hogwarts for the next school year. She even felt comfortable enough to reveal her discomfort at being thrown to a random relative by her own father, though she did grimace apologetically at Kat while she said it.

Kat stayed quiet through all of it, studying her niece with peaceful gray eyes. Cari choked up at the end of her story, somewhere between Shadow's accident and Daniel refusing to be convinced that Cari could stay. She managed to swallow the tears, however, and sat in the awful silence, waiting for the judgment of her aunt.

The woman in question leaned forward, catching Cari's eye. "Have you let those tears come out? Really let them? Sobbed loud and long, not stifling yourself or caring who heard?" Cari shook her head. "Crying's not my favorite thing to do, but you have to bleed out the pain." Cari was unconvinced, and let her face show it. Kat let out a short, harsh laugh. "You are a stubborn little hard-ass."

Shocked by the sudden insult, Cari could only stare up at Kat, but forced herself to look away before long. Honestly, she deserved the name-calling and so much more. Kat had opened her home, accepting a niece she had never met, and got nothing but attitude in return. If she had been in her aunt's shoes, she probably wouldn't have stopped at one name. She probably would have kicked the ungrateful relative out of her home altogether, but she could only pray that Kat was a better person than Cari would have been in the same situation. Suddenly, terrifyingly, Cari realized how utterly alone she was in the world.

"No, no, no!" Kat cried, snapping Cari from her wildly depressing thoughts. "That was a term of endearment! I only call people I like hard-asses." Cari was disbelieving, but Kat touched her hand and spoke with sincerity. "I swear, I'm telling the truth. And, coming from a fellow stubborn hard-ass, pushing all of that down will only work for so long." Seeing that her niece was still uncomfortable, Kat brought out one of her instruments and put on a movie, effectively closing the conversational door for the evening.

* * *

Kat had been watching her. Nothing creepy, but every time Cari checked, her aunt was studying her intently. Finally, one morning at the breakfast table, she sighed. "What," she said, not even bothering to make the word into a question.

"Have you ever thought about doing something different with your hair?"

The question was so unexpected that Cari could only blink in response. "Wha- No!"

Kat shrugged. "Okay. I mean, if you're happy with it, then I won't say anything. No need to be so defensive."

Cari narrowed her eyes at her aunt. "That 'no' was more about how I have no interest in doing the stereotypical 'let's have a makeover and talk about our feelings' thing. I will not be a cliché from an '80s movie."

"Ohhh," Kat drawled, nodding understandingly. "You actually don't have a choice about that. We're going to do a makeover for you either way. It's practically law."

"You don't buy into any of that 'have to' stuff. Give me one good reason that I should spend the day being tortured?"

Kat flattened her hand against her chest, looking offended. "One? I can do so much more than one." She began ticking reasons off on her fingers. "Because I care deeply about you and want you to feel confident on your first day at a new school. Because every girl should know how to apply makeup in the Muggle way, just in case. And, most importantly, because I really don't want to work on my assignment for work and I'm getting bored in my procrastination. Solid enough reasons for you?" Cari shook her head, but knew it was a gesture of defeat.

Sure enough, only a few hours later, Cari found herself perched on a stool while Kat messed with her hair. "So," Kat started off, breaking what Cari had considered to be quite a comfortable silence. "Are you excited to go to Hogwarts?"

"Aunt Kat," Cari sighed, knowing full well how much Kat hated being called 'aunt'. "I get that you feel the need to do this, but do we really need to talk?"

Kat gaped dramatically at Cari's admittedly rude question, holding a hand over her heart. "Do we need to- I opened my _home_ to you, and this is the thanks I get? Why, never have I beheld such a spectacle of cruelty from someone so young." Cari rolled her eyes as Kat laughed, continuing to comb through her niece's hair. "Okay, okay, you're not excited. But why not? I mean, Hogwarts is a cool place." She paused, glaring suspiciously at Cari. "This isn't an image thing, is it? You're a very pretty girl, Cari. You have nothing to worry about in that regard."

"Actually, it has a little more to do with the whole 'running from my past' thing. When people find out why I'm there – and they will – any hope of putting everything behind me will be gone." She ruffled a hand through her hair experimentally. "Though I am a teenager, so issues about my appearance are part of the package."

Kat shrugged. "I mean, if people find out, they find out. Dumbledore will keep any of the students from getting too out of line. And if it gets bad enough, call me in. I'll be more than happy to talk to some of those kids. And if you're worried about your hair, maybe it's time to change things up a little bit. Start the year with a new look."

"I am jealous of your hair. It's nice and short, and looks like it wouldn't be too much of a pain to deal with. Do you think I could pull it off?"

"Well, yes, but only if you want to encourage the curl. You've got some pretty solid waves in your hair right now, but if you take away the weight of the length, it's going to curl up like mine, maybe even a little more. That being said, yes, it is very easy to care for." Kat grabbed a strand of Cari's hair, pulling it down experimentally. "If you decide you do want it cut, I can do it. There's a certain way to cut curly hair and some salons just don't have the experience."

Cari took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. It was time to do something different, something external to remind herself that her situation had changed. She was far from home now – or would be, in a few short weeks – and would have no one on which to rely. "Do it," she said firmly, nodding her head slightly.

Even after the haircut and crash course on styling, Kat insisted on putting makeup on Cari's face… in the Muggle way. Cari complained about this, but Kat had only scoffed. "What, you really think it's hard to point a wand at your face and do a make-up spell? It's super easy, but also pathetically boring and predictable. Everyone should know how to apply makeup using something other than magic."

Disgruntled as she was by the whole process, Cari grudgingly had to admit that she looked nice by the end of Kat's machinations. "I look…" she trailed, turning her face from side to side, trying to find the right adjective. "Older." Kat raised a skeptical eyebrow and Cari chuckled. "Okay, maybe older isn't quite what I mean. I look more grown-up, mature. I guess what I mean to say is thank you. I look like someone who should be able to handle going to a new school. I'll try to live up to it."

A flicker of sadness flashed across Kat's face, but it was gone almost before Cari could recognize the emotion for what it was. Instead, it was replaced by a silly expression as Kat joked, "Well, you're going to have to! Those Hogwarts boys… Whew!" She winked and fanned herself for a moment before both girls dissolved into giggles at Kat's general strangeness.

After putting a few final touches on Cari's somewhat altered appearance, Kat rose from the high stool she had been perched on. "Come on," she urged Cari.

She stood willingly enough, but Cari had to ask, "Where are we going?"

"You look good. I look good. We've had a long day and I want food. We're going to go show ourselves off. Where did you think we were going?"

Cari shrugged and Kat led the way to one of her favorite diners, located conveniently a short distance away from Kat's apartment. Kat had been a regular for as long as she'd lived in the area, and Cari was soon adopted by the staff as well, so their food was delivered shortly after they arrived. Most of the dining time was spent with Kat pointing out the attention they were getting from people, making Cari blush, but in a rare moment of tact, Kat became serious.

"Do you need a ride to Hogwarts?"

Cari looked up at her aunt in surprise. "Well, I mean, I need some way to get to London. I think Fleet said that is where I get on the train to get to Hogwarts." She paused to think for a moment. "Also, I need to get my supplies. Should I call my dad and ask for the address to send an order?"

"What? No, if you're determined to ride the train to Hogwarts, we'll have to go to London anyway. I have… friends in the area who might let us shop the day before you leave and just stay the night. That way, we can just leave for King's Cross from there the next day. Sound like a plan? I know it might seem a little last-minute-"

It did, but Cari was focused on something completely different. "If I'm determined to ride the train? What does that mean? Fleet said that was the only way to get to school."

Kat scoffed. "There are plenty of ways to get to Hogwarts, trust me."

Cari couldn't help but laugh as a slightly evil smirk flitted across Kat's face. "Oh, I trust you on that, but isn't the train the easiest one?"

"Well, yes. I mean-" Kat shifted uncomfortably in her seat and stared out the window, rubbing the back of her neck as she sighed. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you? It'll be awkward, but okay." Still avoiding eye contact with Cari, Kat rushed out, "I know you have problems with your school mates and I don't want you to have to ride with them if it'll make you feel uncomfortable. We can find another way to get into Hogwarts. Dumbledore would love the excitement, anyway."

Trying to ignore the muttered last statement, Cari felt a swooping sensation in her stomach. "My- my classmates? What do you mean?"

Kat blinked at her. "Um, Fleet and your dad said something about an exchange program. There are two kids, a boy and a girl, from every year going to Hogwarts. There won't be a ton of you, but there will still be at least thirteen other Echowick students on that train. I just thought you might not want to see them yet. Am I wrong? Did I misunderstand something?"

Burying her face in suddenly-shaking hands, Cari gave a short laugh. "No. No, you're not wrong, I just don't know why I didn't think about all of this before. I didn't even consider that other students would be going." She set her hands down on the table with a sharp _thump_. "Can I think about it for a little bit? I really don't want to see everyone, but it's a big train with a lot of people. I don't know if I'm actually going to see anyone from Echowick, you know? Plus, I don't want you to get yelled at for doing something you're not supposed to."

That seemed to deeply amuse Kat, but she didn't say anything, merely smiling into her grilled cheese. Finally, she managed to straighten her expression. "All right, if you're sure. But if you decide to go, I'm sure I could survive Dumbledore yelling at me."

"I'm sorry," Cari said after a moment. "Who exactly is Dumbledore?"

And with that, the rest of the meal was spent with Kat explaining everything she knew about Hogwarts. Admittedly, it wasn't much, but Cari had many, many questions. Honestly, it seemed as though Kat was making things up, but the stories were entertaining enough for Cari to simply go along with. _Whoever heard of moving staircases and trees that tried to hit people?_

After a while, both girls finished up their meals and Kat moved to pay. As Kat shifted to snag her purse, Cari saw the handle of her aunt's wand sticking out from her back pocket. "Kat," she said laughingly. "Why do you have your wand in your pocket? Just put it in your purse. You're already carrying one. Might as well use it."

Kat shrugged. "This isn't the best neighborhood. I would rather keep my wand close instead of putting it somewhere it could be stolen."

"Come on," Cari cajoled. "Just put it away. Everyone can see that! You wouldn't want to be responsible for giving away the secrets of magical society to the Muggles, would you?"

"Fine!" Kat snapped laughingly. "You win, just shut up. I'll put it in my purse." She did so and Cari nodded her approval. Kat stood and mock-bowed. "Now that everything is arranged to your satisfaction, are you ready to leave, Highness?"

Cari rolled her eyes and slid out of the booth they had been sitting in. Thanking their server, the two women left the diner and began the short walk back to Kat's apartment. "So, when do you think you'll be able to talk to this friend of yours? I want to make sure I have time to get my school supplies before classes actually start."

Kat looked considering. "It shouldn't take too long for me to ask him. We've stayed in contact over the past few years."

Cari opened her mouth to ask who 'he' was and why her aunt had stayed in such close contact, but was interrupted by a large form tackling Kat, knocking Cari to the ground in the process. Cari's head struck the ground solidly and she had to blink stars out of her eyes before she could see the black-dressed man who was currently divesting Kat of her purse.

Once he had cut the strap connecting the bag to Kat's shoulder, the man paused to glance up at Kat's face. "Ooh," he growled roughly. "You're a pretty one." He tossed the purse to the ground behind himself, smiling nastily all the while. "I'll collect that once we're done."

As Cari watched, Kat's hand went reflexively to her back pocket and she knew her aunt was looking for her wand. The wand Cari had just convinced her to put in her purse. Trying to move slowly, Cari started to crawl toward the discarded purse, but the mugger barked a short, "Hey!" and began directing his sharp little knife at her. Cari pulled up abruptly and he motioned her back against the wall of the alley. "You'll stay right there, little girl. You can watch what I do to your friend here and then I'll get to you."

"Cari!" Kat hissed. "Get out of here! Run! HELP!"

The last word was loud enough that the mugger looked startled and panicked. "Shut up!" he hissed, wrapping hands around Kat's throat. In a motion Cari would later describe as fluid and natural, Kat grabbed one of the man's arms, pulling it away from her by the wrist. With her other hand, she used the heel of her palm to strike the mugger in the nose. As he tried to salvage the situation, Kat grabbed the juncture of his neck and shoulder and pulled him down against her knee, digging it into his stomach once, twice, and kicking him in the groin. As he collapsed - groaning - to his knees, Kat lifted a foot and kicked him across the face. The mugger fell to the ground of the alleyway as Kat snagged her purse, grabbed Cari by the arm, and hustled them both toward her apartment.

By the time they arrived, Cari was fighting not to cry, especially when she thought about how much of that could have been avoided if she hadn't tried to mess with Kat's instincts. Her aunt, on the other hand, walked in terse, collected silence and Cari had wished more than once for an ounce of Kat's self-possessed toughness.

Collapsing on the couch, Cari watched her aunt putter around the apartment, cleaning random items and humming a nonsense tune under her breath. Cari couldn't fight it back any more and began to cry silently. Kat fell quiet and sat gently on the couch next to her niece. "Cari, are you okay?"

Cari shot her aunt a look of disbelief. "Are you serious? How can you even ask me that with what just happened?"

"I prefer to think of it more in terms of what could have happened, but didn't."

Opening her mouth to give a scathing response, Cari stopped at the sight of Kat's hands. The older girl was shaking like a leaf. Noticing the direction of Cari's gaze, Kat smiled uncomfortably and folded her hands on her lap. "The aftermath of an adrenaline rush is never fun."

Cari let out a sigh that was almost as unsteady as her aunt's hands. "I am so sorry, Kat. You'll never know how sorry I am. I should never have asked you to put your wand somewhere else. You know what's best for you and you're doing perfectly fine without me here, telling you what to do all the time. I just need to-"

Kat made an impatient gesture, cutting Cari off midsentence. "I'm not mad at you, Cari. I'm a little scared about what could have happened, but I don't blame you. Why would I? There's no way either of us could have known what the guy was going to do. The only one at fault here is him. Anyway, this is why I keep telling you that you need to learn to do things the Muggle way. You should always know more than one way to do something, and that especially includes defending yourself."

"Can- Can you show me how to do some of the things you did to him?" Cari asked uncertainly.

"Of course!" Kat glanced down at her still-trembling hands. "Maybe tomorrow, if that's okay. I just want to take a shower and go to bed."

"Yeah, no problem. And thanks." Kat bid her goodnight and headed toward the bathroom, but Cari stayed curled up on the couch. Her worthless reflexes had kicked in the adrenaline now, when everything was safe, and she felt as though she would never sleep again.

Burning with nervous energy, Cari cleaned her aunt's kitchen until it shone, watched two movies, and nearly wore a hole in the carpet with her pacing before following Kat's example and showering before shutting herself in the bedroom. Try as she might, Cari laid awake, staring into the darkness above her for hours before falling asleep.

* * *

Author's Note \- Well, that was a bit of a step back for Cari's healing process. By the way, real talk: the world is a scary place, boys and girls. If you're ever able to learn some kind of self-defense, please do so. You never know when or where, but it could literally save your life. Now, I know what you're going to say, "You told us this summer wouldn't take forever to get through. Stop dragging it out!" See, I'm psychic. Don't worry, dear complaining reader. The summer will be wrapped up in only a couple more chapters. That's all I have for you today! Thanks to ghostcrab311 and Ashes-To-Diamonds for the reviews and I'll see you all next Monday! Have a glorious week!


	54. Old Friends

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related materials, characters, plots, or settings. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements in this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Old Friends

"Good news!" Kat shouted, walking into the kitchen several days later. Her loud voice badly startled a still-tense Cari, who jumped violently and nearly tipped over her bowl of cereal. Not noticing, Kat went on. "My friend in London got back to me. We're going to spend the last day of your vacation shopping in Diagon Alley, stay in London that night, and head to Hogwarts from there. Have you decided how you want to work the travel arrangements?"

Cari absently rubbed at her chest, just above the spot where her heart was still pounding away. In truth, she had been far too busy between her self-defense lessons with her aunt and worrying about Hogwarts to even think about whether she would take the train or not. As the silence stretched, Cari decided to just make things easier on everyone – if not for herself. "Thanks for offering to find a different way, Kat, but I think I'll just take the train." Kat looked unconvinced, but Cari gave a little laugh. "It's really fine. Yeah, some kids from Echowick are going to be there, but not very many. I'm sure everything will work out."

"Okay," Kat agreed, shrugging. "I think we'll leave here around eight am, so you should probably start packing sometime in the next few days."

"Wow…" Cari trailed, trying to reconcile herself with the fact that school started in a little over a week. "Yeah, if you're all right with me using the washer and dryer, I'll get everything packed up as soon as it's clean."

Kat scoffed at the request and walked away without another word. Cari's eternal politeness was a constant source of teasing between the two of them, but Cari would always rather be overly-safe than step on toes. Besides, Kat sometimes got a little sensitive about the Muggle washer and dryer. Cleaning spells were considered to be simple magic, but neither of them could spare the effort when such an energy-depleting result could be more easily accomplished through Muggle means.

The next few days sped by as Cari gathered, cleaned, and packed all of her belongings scattered around Kat's apartment. At times, it seemed like she had just arrived yesterday rather than months before. At other times, it seemed Cari had always lived with her aunt. Their relationship seemed so natural, and the apartment was such a safe haven. Cari was reluctant to leave, especially since it would be time to face the real world – and some of her old classmates – again. She hoped this new school, Hogwarts, would be the same way Kat's apartment had been. If she knew for certain that she would come to view Hogwarts as a sort of home, she could face any amount of hatred from her fellow Echowick students. Cari sighed as she placed the last shirt into her duffel bag, zipping the top. There was no way to know, unfortunately. More importantly, there was no other choice, nowhere else she could go. _Might as well make the best of it_ , she thought sarcastically.

With that bit of packing, the only things left were Cari's pajamas, her clothes for the next day, and the toiletries she would need to use before they left. Now, she only had a few hours left to sleep before they were supposed to leave. She had originally questioned her aunt's decision to leave so early in the day, but Kat had explained that, due to the time difference, they would use the International Floo Network to leave Chicago at eight in the morning, but they would be getting to her friend's apartment at two o'clock in the afternoon. That would leave them with just enough time to do what they were going to London to do and then hopefully get back to the friend's apartment for some sleep before it was time for Cari to get on the train.

Trying valiantly to shut off her brain, Cari closed her eyes, snuggled down under the covers, and allowed herself to drift into sleep.

* * *

Kat swore loudly at the fireplace as Cari stood across the room blinking sleepily with her bag thrown on the floor next to her. She was just beginning to wonder if Kat would notice her falling asleep on the couch when a loud crash startled her back to full wakefulness. Kat was scowling down at the backpack she had thrown on the floor, the open top of which was allowing an assortment of makeup brushes to roll out. She hastily scooped them up and stuffed them back inside before zipping it, then stomped off to 'make a call'. While she was gone, Cari settled back on the couch and slipped into a light doze.

It seemed like only a split second later when Cari woke to find Kat standing over her. "Come on, you lazy bum. We need to get moving if we have any hope of getting your stuff today!"

The thought of showing up to a new school without any of the supplies she needed was enough to send Cari bouncing to her feet with a feeling of white-hot panic in her chest. Kat directed her to stand in front of the fireplace. They had already had a long conversation about the Floo Network and how it worked, but Cari was still nervous. Thankfully, Kat claimed that all of the issues from earlier had been resolved and she was going to go first, that way Cari could watch the process, at least from one side.

Kat threw a handful of glittering green powder into the fireplace and the flames almost seemed to stutter a few times before letting out a sickly-sounding wheeze and reluctantly turning emerald. Kat gave a triumphant laugh before stepping confidently into the fire. Everything in Cari's Muggle upbringing screamed for her to stop her aunt, but she managed to stop herself. Kat spoke the address of the apartment they were headed to, carefully enunciating every syllable. As she reached the end, she disappeared in a flare of bright green light and Cari was left staring at a fireplace filled with merrily crackling yellow and orange flames.

With a shaking hand, Cari gathered as much of the Floo powder as she could hold and sifted it over the fire. There was no change for a moment, then the flames turned the same green as they had for her aunt. Taking in a deep breath, Cari eased herself into the fireplace and read off the address Kat had kindly hung from the inside of the mantelpiece. As with Kat, she stood in place until the last word had left her mouth and found herself abruptly spinning a split second later. She may have taken a step forward or the fireplace may have stopped, but either way, Cari found herself lurching forward into a strange apartment, losing her balance but was caught by her aunt.

"You okay, kid?" Kat asked with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah," Cari panted. "Just give me a second…" Carefully controlling her breathing, Cari studied the room. The afternoon sun streaming in through the windows threw her off slightly, since to her, it had just been morning. When she was able to get past the light, she found that the room was very – for lack of a better term – manly. The furniture was mostly broken-in armchairs and leather sofas. The furniture was sturdy, almost entirely consisting of dark wooden slabs combined into fulfilling different functions. More attention-grabbing, however, was the fact that every surface was covered with trash of some kind. Fast food wrappers, empty cans, and random scraps of paper were scattered all over the room. Cari blinked at her surroundings, then frowned at her aunt. "Are we in a frat house?"

Kat stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh, Cari… I'm going to miss you so badly!"

As if summoned by the sound of her voice, a man flew into the room, garbage bag in hand, and skidded to a halt as he scooped every piece of trash in arm's length into the bag. He was muttering to himself in a panicked tone and cleaning as though he wasn't aware of their arrival. Sure enough, when Kat softly cleared her throat, he paused, pushed ashy brown hair out of his eyes, and slowly began to turn a deep red.

"Kat..." he trailed, deep voice confused and embarrassed. "Sorry it's such a mess in here. I lost track of the time."

Kat laughed. "Same old John. Cari," she said, turning to her niece, "This is my old friend John. John, this is Licaria, my niece."

It's very nice to meet you, Licaria," John greeted politely, hand extended.

Cari shook it, but added, "Please, it's just Cari. Nice to meet you, Mr. John."

"Mr. John?" he repeated with a horrified grimace. "That's terrible! Just John, please. If you'll excuse me a second, I'm going to take care of..." With a gesture, he indicated the half-full garbage bag he still held before leaving the room.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Cari asked, "Where are the rest of them?"

Kat, who had been dreamily staring at the door John had left through, snapped back to attention. "What? This is it. Only John lives here."

Cari allowed her brow to furrow. "Really, because I would have sworn you said we were staying with a group of your friends."

"I never said that." At Cari's disbelieving stare, she defended herself, "I didn't! I mean, I never said straight out that we were going to stay with only one friend of mine, but I never said it was going to be a group."

Arching a brow in the way she knew Kat hated, Cari nodded. "I know what's going on here. The excitement to get here, the makeup in your bag, the over-emphasis on friends... you have a thing for John, don't you?"

Shhh!" Kat hissed frantically. "No, I don't, but it would make things really awkward if he thought I did. Keep your voice down!"

Cari shook her head and commented dryly, "'Those Hogwarts boys', huh, Kat?"

A deep laugh came from the door behind Cari and Kat blushed a dark red - the first time Cari had ever seen her do so. Her glare made it obvious she would get even with Cari.

"You two are definitely related," John said with a smirk. He looked at Cari, approval mixing with laughter in his eyes. "I can't call you Cari. From now on, you're Mini-Kat."

Terrified as she was by Kat's 'I'm Going To Murder You' face, Cari couldn't help but grin. "Sounds like a plan, Friend John," she returned with a wink, even as she marveled how at-home she felt with the guy she had just met. John was very charismatic.

"Come on, Kat and Mini-Kat. Let's go get you settled in your room." John led Cari and the still-red Kat to a room just off the living room. It was a decent size and very clean, especially compared to the way the rest of the apartment had looked. Cari walked in at John's invitation and placed her bag on the bed. Kat, however, was still standing in the doorway

"Wait," she said slowly. "I thought you lived in a one-bedroom apartment?"

"I do," he agreed. "This is usually my room. I figured that you guys could stay here comfortably. Don't worry, I cleaned up and washed everything."

"John, we can't kick you out of your room, especially in your own place. Cari and I will be just fine in the living room." Cari nodded her agreement.

Twisting his face into the most derisive scoff Cari had ever seen, John crossed his arms over his chest. "If you think I'm going to let two guests – female guests, no less! – sleep on the couch while I keep my bed all to myself, you're insulting me in the worst possible way." Kat opened her mouth to argue, but John pointed threateningly at her. "Shut up, Kat. Put your stuff in here and get comfortable. If the two of you don't sleep in here, I guess it'll stay empty and all three of us will be in the living room. And wouldn't that be awkward?"

With that, he ambled away and Kat turned to Cari, face covered in disbelief. "Did you hear all of that? What a weir- wait, no! I'm still mad at you!"

"Mad at me?" Cari asked, half-laughing. "You're only lucky Friend John left when he did, or I would have given you a real reason to be mad at me! I was just about to suggest that I sleep on the couch so that you two could share the room."

Dodging the pillow Kat threw at her, Cari remained a safe distance away as Kat flopped on the bed and glared from half-closed eyes. "You should be very grateful that International Floo travel wears me out so badly or I would beat an apology out of you."

Cari waited until Kat's eyes drifted closed before asking sassily, "So, you and John, huh?"

Kat's eyes snapped open again and Cari quickly retreated from the room before her aunt could work up the energy to follow. She found John in the small kitchen, writing on a scrap of paper and humming softly to himself. Not wanting to interrupt, she went to a window and peeked out. It didn't look like the wizarding world, but it was surprisingly hard to tell, sometimes…

"Nothing but Muggles out there," Friend John supplied helpfully. Cari jumped and turned to him, raising her eyebrows. He shrugged. "That's what you were wondering, right? I decided to settle out here, away from the wizarding community a little bit. Sort of spread my wings, as it were."

Cari didn't quite know what to say to that, so she just followed him over to the counter, where he began writing again. "What are you working on?"

"A list. I don't get to Diagon Alley very often, so I usually have a lot to get when I'm there. This way, I'm less likely to forget stuff I need."

"Ah. Thanks again, for letting us stay here. It's helping a ton with me getting my school supplies. I would be panicking if I had to wait until tomorrow morning to get books and everything. There's no way it would ever work."

Friend John paused for a moment to smile at her. "It's really no trouble. I get someone to drag me to Diagon Alley, I get to see Kat when our visits are so rare, and I get to meet the next generation of Romana. There's no downside to this for me, so the thanks are truly unnecessary." He glanced down at his watch and frowned. "We might want to get moving if we're to get everything you need today. Is your aunt almost ready?"

"I really don't know. She kind of looked like she was thinking about a nap when I came out here," Cari admitted.

"Let me go check on her," Friend John offered. Cari, already comfortably seated in a chair, agreed. Only seconds later, there was a surprised shriek, a hasty apology, and a very red-faced John came back to the kitchen. "Y- Your aunt is just going to be a minute. Apparently, she decided to change clothes before leaving."

That took a moment to sink in, but when it did, Cari couldn't help but laugh. Eventually, John joined in, awkwardly at first, but before long, they were both wiping tears from their eyes. Kat walked into the kitchen moments later, obviously embarrassed at first, but soon fell into snickering as well. Perhaps it was only so funny since Cari and Kat were so off in time zones as to feel off balance and Friend John was just a happy guy anyway, but whatever the reason, the laughing fit wiped away all of the remaining tension and awkwardness.

When the last chuckle had faded away, John cleared his throat and asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Are we ready to head to Diagon Alley, then?"

"Unless you need me to flash you again," Kat replied, holding a serious face for a moment before dissolving into giggles again. Cari began laughing as well, but they both stopped when Friend John shook his head and walked out of the front door without looking back at them.

When they caught up, John explained that Diagon Alley wasn't far away, and with traffic being what it usually was, it would be faster for them to walk. As it was a nice day, Cari and Kat agreed and the small group began their walking trip through London. Cari's neck began to hurt from swiveling her head back and forth so much. There was just so much to see! It seemed that every new direction held something new and exciting, all of it with a feeling of being new and different. If it had been a ten mile walk, Cari still would have wished it to be longer, but all too soon, they had arrived… sort of.

Instead of leading the girls through some sort of magical tunnel or casting a spell of some kind, John had brought them to a scummy-looking bar, painted a chipped and faded black. There was no owner to welcome people inside, no windows inviting passersby to look in, not even a sign to tell the name to any interested parties. _Wait,_ Cari internally corrected herself. There was a small rectangle dangling from an oddly-placed metal rod above their heads. _The Leaky Cauldron_ was spelled out in brown, difficult-to-read letters on a sign as chipped and faded as the building itself.

Kat sighed, narrowing her eyes at John skeptically. "You know, if you wanted to get rid of us so badly, you could have just said something. You didn't have to bring us all the way to this sketchy bar to get someone else to kill us."

"First off," John said, looking affronted, "it's a pub, not a bar. Secondly, I'm not trying to get rid of you. This is the way to Diagon Alley."

Kat didn't say anything to that, merely shaking her head disappointedly, but John leaned over to open the door. "I know it sounds odd, but just trust me."

"If you think I'm going to walk in there first, you're out of your mind," Kat said, letting out a short laugh.

John looked down at her, the mischief in his smile reflected into his eyes. "Wow, Katherine Romana, scared to walk into a pub without a big, strong man walking in first. Never thought I would see the day. Fine, I'll go first and make sure nothing hurts yo-"

His goading cut off abruptly as Kat pushed him back from the doorway. "Fine, you manipulative tool, I'll go first. If someone kills me in there, I'll haunt you for eternity." Turning to the open doorway, Kat squared her shoulders and started forward. "Come on, Cari."

Cari followed her aunt into the dimly-lit pub. The room was very tall, crossed with thick wooden beams. Between these beams, rings of candles hung to form a sort of chandelier that somehow made it very clear that elegance was not the desired outcome. When Cari could finally tear her eyes from the slightly-swaying light source, she found that the walls were covered in framed pictures of people. Who they were and why they were important enough to be immortalized on the pub's walls, she couldn't say, but there certainly were a lot of frames.

Her study of The Leaky Cauldron took only a few short seconds, but more important matters soon captured Cari's attention: the occupants of the pub were staring at her and her aunt. 'Glaring' might be the more accurate term, in all honesty. The bartender, dressed in an odd, 1800s-style outfit, set down the metal tankard he had been cleaning and started to move from behind the bar. Cari and Kat exchanged glances and began to fan out, both reaching for their wands.

Behind them, Friend John walked through the door, hands casually in his pockets. Breaking the tune he was whistling, he nodded to the bartender. "Hey, Tom. Keeping busy?"

"John," the man – presumably Tom – said, returning the nod. "Glad to see you. Thought we had a couple Muggles in here."

"Wait, Muggles just wander in here?" Kat asked disbelievingly.

"Ah, and American as well," Tom commented, ignoring the question. "Not a good combination. Better get where you're going, John. Not the best place to be having guests like that."

"Thanks, Tom. We're just headed to Diagon Alley. If you'll excuse us?"

Tom jerked his head toward the back of the pub, and Friend John began leading them in that direction. They ducked into a small hallway with two small restrooms and a third unmarked door, which they took. As soon as they were out of earshot, Kat asked curiously, "Why is it bad to have Americans in the ba- excuse me, pub?"

John tensed up a little at the question, but tried to shrug casually. "You know, after all of the things that happened with You-Know-Who, the US didn't offer much help. Lots of wizards in the UK aren't too forgiving of that."

"So, what, isolationism is a mortal sin now?" Kat sounded on the verge of outrage as she followed John into a back alley.

Cari cleared her throat softly. "Maybe now isn't the best time, Kat," she pointed out.

Friend John nodded thankfully at her and turned to face the brick wall at the end of the alley. Cari glanced at Kat, who returned the confused look, but both were transfixed when John traced a pattern with his wand and the bricks of the wall began to rearrange themselves into an open archway.

* * *

Author's Note \- Ahhhh, excitement! Not only is Cari in London, but she's in the Leaky Cauldron, ready to go into Diagon Alley. You don't know how much I want to just post the next ten chapters, but then I'd have nothing left to publish. But I will say that I'm so excited for next week, I can't stand it! Anyway, thanks for reading and I would love to hear what you're thinking! Special thanks to Ashes-To-Diamonds for the review on last chapter. You are so right! Thanks again to everyone and have a wonderful day!


	55. In Diagon Alley

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, situations, or settings. I own only the original elements of this story. I make no money from writing or publishing it.

* * *

In Diagon Alley

"Told you this was the way in," John gloated over his shoulder.

"Shut up," Kat responded dispassionately. "Go get your stupid, boring crap and we'll meet up later. Cari, come with me. We've got some exploring to do."

"Fine, I'll meet you at the bookstore, but you guys probably need to stop by the bank first." Cari and Kat must have both looked confused, because he slowly continued, "I heard a lot of American schools just use Muggle money, since you don't have much of a wizarding community in the area, but here, you'll need real money. Go to Gringotts."

They followed his advice and stopped to make a money exchange first, but then headed straight for the stores. Cari and Kat thoroughly enjoyed themselves, taking the time to gawk at and browse through everything that caught their interest and even some places where they would never buy anything. The only place Cari studiously avoided was the Quality Quidditch Supplies store. Kat didn't press her, though she did shoot her niece a number of worried glances.

Eventually, John caught up to them in the pet store, cooing over a display of tiny kittens, which the sign identified as Kneazles - though it warned that potential buyers would be required to present their owner's license prior to purchase.

"There you two are!" Friend John exclaimed, sounding harassed. "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

"No," Kat said, sounding totally unconcerned. John shook his head, but followed along good-naturedly as they continued to browse.

Though it took a while, eventually everyone had seen what they wanted to see, Cari had her books, and both girls had several souvenirs. Cari felt awkward bringing it up, but she realized almost at the same moment that she hadn't eaten that day and that she was ravenous.

Before she could work up the nerve to say something, John turned to both of his guests, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, I don't actually have food at the house, other than some frozen waffles. Any chance you guys are hungry and want to grab something while we're out?"

Cari spoke quickly, before Kat could say anything sassy. "That sounds great! You're the expert here, so you choose the place."

Kat raised an eyebrow and put a fist on her hip. "John. Are you seriously wanting us to eat at this place? It was sketchy when I thought it was just the way into Diagon Alley."

John gestured dramatically. "Are you kidding me? This is the best restaurant in the Alley. Ask anyone!" He looked around, but they were completely alone. He shook his head. "Just trust me, okay? I'm starving, and this is the best place around to get food. Besides, it's on the way out."

Inside, the pub was filled with shadows and a dank smell hung in the air. Kat let out a gagging cough and John glared at her. "It's not the Cauldron, alright? That's whatever that chap is smoking." He jerked his chin at a thin, pale man wearing a pretty dapper-looking trilby hat. Cari smiled at the man as they passed, but he didn't return the expression. John had been telling the truth, though. Once they got past the smoke, the air held a tantalizing scent. Cari breathed deeply while Kat stopped a woman with a nametag on who was walking by. "Excuse me, miss. What's that smell?"

The woman looked embarrassed, turning her upper body so that her back was to the man in the hat. Cari could read that her nametag said 'Paige'. "I'm sorry for that, ma'am. It's what the gentleman behind me always smokes in his pipe."

Kat blinked at Paige for a moment before shaking her head. "No, no! I meant the good smell! Something smells amazing and we're all starving."

Paige released a relieved laugh. "Oh! Well, in that case, that smell is most likely the soup. We are quite famous for it, you know."

"Soup…" Kat mused. "You know, I could really go for some soup. This place might not be that bad after all." They turned the corner, where John pointed out a large menu board displaying the specials. Kat read aloud, "House Leaky Soup, Leaky Soup House, Soup Leaky House, House Soup Leaky… I changed my mind again. This place sucks."

Cari looked at John. "So, what's the difference between each kind of soup?"

John shrugged. "I dunno. I always get the Steak and Kidney Pie."

Kat whirled to stare at him. "Steak and Kidney Pie?" He nodded. "Every time?" John nodded again. "You've never had anything else?" Looking distinctly nervous, John nodded again. "So, let me get this straight. You've only ever had one dish here, but it's 'the best restaurant in the Alley'?" Cari laughed. Kat's temper might not be the best, but her impressions of John couldn't be faulted for inaccuracy.

Cari moved between them to snag a booth over in the corner. Kat sighed while John looked vindicated, but both came over to sit with her. Cari noted smugly that they shared the other half of the booth. They would end up together, she just knew it! Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a waitress. It was Paige. "Have you all figured out what you would like to eat?" The abrupt greeting was softened by the woman's warm smile.

John ordered his Steak and Kidney Pie, while Kat opted for the Pea Soup. Cari gave her an odd look, but Kat just shrugged. "At least I know what that is!" she whispered. After some indecision, Cari decided to order the House Soup Leaky. Just as Paige was about to walk away, Cari asked, "What do you have to drink here?"

Paige took a breath, "Well, we have brandy and beer, obviously. We also have tea and exploding lemonade."

"Exploding- I don't want to know. Do you have iced tea?" Cari couldn't see why they wouldn't, but there was no telling.

Paige made a face. "You Americans. I swear, none of you ever drink hot tea! I'll bring you an iced tea. Anything else?"

Head shakes all around and Paige walked off toward the kitchen. Cari gazed around the room. It was strange to look around and see so many different kinds of people all in one place, knowing they were all from the wizarding world. She tried not to stare, but everywhere she looked there was something interesting going on! Even as she watched, she could see an extremely short man perched on a barstool, but his clothes were obviously made for a full-sized man. As she watched, he took a drink from the bottle in front of him and seemed to shrink another few inches.

A burst of noise shot adrenaline into the previously-quiet room. Cari half-turned in her seat to see a rambunctious group of red-headed males coming from the direction of the stairwell. All of them were very tanned, which was something of a shock to the eyes. They were all laughing and joking amongst themselves, and Cari felt a moment of homesickness for Byron before a noise in her booth made her jump. She whipped around to see Kat and John sliding out of the booth, calling for a Bill and Charlie.

Two of the red-heads turned around, smiles breaking across their faces. "John! Kat!" They met in the middle of the room. Cari doubted the rest of their group even noticed the two were gone, but she was definitely keeping an eye on whatever was happening. John shook hands with both men while Kat gave them quick hugs. They all chattered for a while, but there was so much talking all at once that Cari couldn't really understand anything that was going on. She eventually gave up, thanking Paige, who had brought her iced tea. She took a swig and made a face. It was unsweetened and there were no sugar packets to be found. Cari shrugged to herself. It wasn't the worst thing in the world.

"Cari! Hey, Cari, come over here!" Cari turned to find Kat waving her over, shouting as though she was halfway down the street rather than across a mostly silent room. Ducking her head, Cari walked over and Kat wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Guys, this is my niece, Cari!"

The two men grinned and looked at each other. "Uh oh. A blood relative of Kat Romana?"

"Yeah, Hogwarts is in trouble this year!"

The one with the longer hair held out a hand to Cari. "Hello. I'm Bill Weasley. I went to school with John for a while and had the misfortune of being in Hogwarts at the time of The Incident."

The taller of the two shook Cari's hand next. "And I'm Charlie Weasley. I was only in my first year when Hurricane Kat ripped through the school."

Cari furrowed her brow at her aunt. "I guess I don't understand, sorry. What exactly is it that happened at Hogwarts? Aunt Kat didn't even go to school there. Or did I miss something?"

The men exchanged delighted glances. "You don't know? Oh, Kat."

"Tsk, tsk. Hiding your wrongdoings isn't going to make them go away."

Kat glared at them before shushing them. "She doesn't know, and she's not going to know. In fact, no one needs to ever figure out that we're related. She doesn't need my reputation following her, you know."

The statement, no matter how innocently intended, reminded Cari of the treatment she could expect again, starting tomorrow. It wouldn't stop, not until she left school and maybe not even then. She could feel her face start to crumple. Kat squeezed her. "No, Cari! That's not what I meant, not at all! Trust me, the things I've done… You just don't want anyone to know you're related to me. It wouldn't win you any points with professors… or anyone, really."

Cari nodded, but the thoughts were swirling around her brain like kicked-up silt in a river. Looking at the floor, she mumbled, "Excuse me. I'm going to go wash my hands before the food gets here." One of the men - Charlie, she thought, though it was hard to tell by his voice alone - pointed her toward the restrooms and she went off.

Kat watched her move through the room with worried eyes. She sighed as her niece walked into the bathroom, never once lifting her head. And here she had been thinking they had made progress. Bill looked concerned, as well. "I'm sorry, Kat. Was it something we said?"

She shook her head, but both men continued to look guilty. "Is there anything we could do?" Charlie asked. Kat started to shake her head, but stopped. She whipped her head up fast enough to shock everyone. "Yes! Yes, actually, there is. How many of your siblings are in school this year?"

Bill smiled. "Uh… All of them." He turned slightly. "Oi! You lot, get over here!" The group of red-headed boys, now joined by one red-headed girl, one girl with wavy brown hair, and a boy with dark hair and glasses, moved in their direction.

When the crowd had made their way over, slowly at first, but speeding up when they saw who their brothers were standing with.

"Kat!"

"Hey, Kat!"

"What are you doing here?"

Kat greeted the rest of the Weasleys and assorted friends with smiles and a few hugs. "Hey, guys! Long time, no see! Listen, I wanted to ask you all for a favor. My niece is one of the Echowick students coming to Hogwarts this year-" All of the kids looked surprised and confused. "Oh… I guess you don't know about that yet. There will be ten total American students coming to Hogwarts. Act surprised when Dumbledore tells you, okay? I-" she looked nervously toward the bathroom. "What grades- uh, years are you guys in now?"

Percy, wearing a badge prominently placed on his robes, stepped forward. "I'm a seventh year. I'm also Head Boy." Kat nodded, obviously fighting back an eye roll.

The twins, who had given into the same urge to roll eyes at their pompous older brother, smiled. "We're fifth-years."

Ron, awkward as ever, cleared his throat as he gestured to the boy and girl standing in front of him. "This is Hermione and Harry. We're all third-years."

Ginny, always the lone red-headed female, grinned at Kat as she said, "This is the start of my second year."

Kat clutched at her chest and staggered dramatically. "I feel so… old. Would you guys please knock it off? Ugh." She fell silent as she looked over the group again. "None of you guys are in fourth year?" They all shook their heads and she sighed. "Well, suck."

Charlie failed to hold back a grin as he raised an eyebrow and repeated, "'Suck'?"

On a roll, Kat just waved a hand at him dismissively. "Yeah, it's satisfying to say and still appropriate around small children. Here's the thing: I need you to keep an eye out for my niece. I don't have a lot of time to explain, and frankly, it isn't my story to tell, but let's just say that Cari has had a rough year and there are a number of people who may be looking to make this next one even more difficult. I'm not asking you to be her best friends or anything, but would you at least make sure no one is bullying her?"

Percy puffed out his chest. "Ma'am, Hogwarts does not tolerate bullying of any kind. In the unlikely case that she should run into any problems, all of the ordinary disciplinary channels will be fully available and willing to listen between the hours of-"

He cut off as one of the twins drove an elbow into his ribcage. "We'll keep an eye out for her." His twin spoke up as well. "Yeah, we've got some tricks up our sleeves."

Kat looked at Charlie for confirmation and the man nodded. "They're not quite as bad as you were, but they like to keep Hogwarts on its toes." She looked satisfied.

Just then, the bathroom door began to swing open. Kat pushed at Charlie and frantically hissed, "Here she comes! Scatter, people! Scatter!" She grabbed John's hand and sprinted off to their corner booth with him while the Weasleys tried to subtly move their group back to the bar area. Cari walked into the room, looked around curiously, and then made her way back to the booth just as Paige returned with their meals. While she was walking in the other direction, the Weasley (plus two) clan studied her thoroughly.

Cari settled into her side of the booth, breathing deeply. Her soup looked absolutely disgusting. It was an odd red color with chunks of some type of brown material floating through the watery mixture. Despite how it looked, it smelled exactly like the wonderful aroma that had been floating through the entrance. One point for it, one point against it. Steeling her nerves, Cari picked up her spoon and scooped up a few drops of the dull, brick-colored liquid. Without allowing herself to think about it, she slurped up the soup. It was delicious. Within a few minutes, she had eaten nearly half of the bowl.

When Cari looked up, Kat was staring at her. "How on earth are you eating that? It looks absolutely gag-inducing." Cari shrugged and asked how Kat's pea soup was. Kat grimaced. "It tastes really… bad. Seriously. Is this even made of peas?"

John leaned over, dipped his spoon in the bowl, and ate some of the thick green mixture. "Hmm. Yeah, that's not normal pea soup. It's soup made with magical peas. It's very different and can have some… odd side effects."

Kat grabbed his arm. "Like what? What side effects are we talking about here?"

John shrugged. "I dunno. It can be something small, like a color change, or it can be something else, like growing goat's feet." He stared at Kat, watching the growing panic evident on her face. Just when she seemed ready to completely lose it, John burst out laughing. "For Merlin's sake, Kat! There's no such thing as magical peas. I mean, as far as I know. The soup is probably just old."

Punching his arm, Kat settled back in her seat and spooned up another bite of soup. She grimaced, but began to steadily eat it. The sound of a throat clearing stopped them all. A smiling Kat bounded up once again from the booth. This time, it was a middle-aged couple. The man was taller and slightly balding, though he still had plenty of bright red hair. The woman beside him also had red hair. Cari usually didn't like to make assumptions, but it would be a wonderfully odd coincidence for the couple not to be related to the group of red-heads from earlier.

The man and woman shook hands with John and gave Kat hugs. "Katherine! It's so wonderful to see you!" the woman cooed. "The kids mentioned that they had run into you down here and Arthur and I just had to come and catch up. It's been such a long time!" The woman eyed Kat critically. "You know, dear, you still aren't eating enough."

Kat laughed as she hugged the woman again. "Molly, you never change! And I'd never want you to. Here, I want you both to meet my niece, Cari." She gestured to Cari, who stood and nodded politely to the couple. Kat went about making introductions. "Cari, this is Arthur and Molly Weasley. They're Bill and Charlie's mom and dad. Two of the nicest souls you'll ever meet."

The couple smiled and greeted Cari warmly. Arthur looked back to Kat. "Are you living in London these days, Katherine?"

Kat shook her head. "No, we used the Floo Network to get to John's house. He kindly agreed to put us up so that we could get Cari's school supplies and have somewhere to crash before leaving for King's Cross tomorrow morning."

Arthur nodded, but looked concerned. "Are they letting you use the Floo again? Last I heard, you were banned."

Grinning, Kat said, "I don't know if I would say they're 'letting' me so much as they're not pushing the issue when I ignore them about not using it. The incident was years ago, after all. I'm an adult now."

Arthur laughed and shook his head. Meanwhile, Molly studied Cari's face before exclaiming, "My dear, you look so much like your aunt. It's uncanny!"

Not knowing how to reply, Cari just smiled. Arthur was quick to fill the silence. "Cari, I must know: do you live among the Muggles, too? Fascinating people. Simply fascinating."

Ah. Now, this was a question she was used to. "I do live in the Muggle world, yes. In fact, my mother is a Muggle, though she doesn't know anything about the wizarding world." Normally, this was where people started to look uncomfortable or ask insultingly probing questions, but this man was a rare exception.

"Of course! I knew that. But there are so many things you must know about! For instance, what exactly is an elevator?" Completely knocked off guard, Cari could only stare at him, befuddled. Ever helpful, Arthur added, "You know, the moving staircases? They never seem to end, but they're stuck in one place. Not like Hogwarts staircases at all."

Cari shook her head. "You're thinking of escalators. Escalators are the moving stairs. Elevators are sort of the same concept, but you move up and down instead of diagonally…"

"Diagon Alley?"

"No, no-"

While Cari and Arthur went into a surprisingly technical discussion about different forms of vertical transportation, Molly, Kat, and John moved a few steps backward to have their own conversation. Molly, never one for beating around the bush, was the first to break the ice. "Bill and Charlie told me she's in some kind of trouble. Is it true?" Kat nodded in confirmation and Molly looked sympathetic. "Poor dear. Kids can be so cruel. I assume she's one of the transfer students for Hogwarts this year?"

Kat nodded. "I didn't want to say too much earlier, but there was a bit of trouble in Echowick at the end of last year and Cari had to be taken out of school early. Headmistress Fleet talked to my brother, and they both agreed that it would be best if Cari was… well, removed from the situation for a year or so." She looked at her niece wryly. "Of course, she didn't want to leave. She's such a stubborn little thing! Lots of fire, though she hides it well."

Molly touched her arm, bringing her attention back to the situation at hand. "Katherine. I have to tell you something, but I don't want you to worry." Kat ducked her head slightly to look into Molly's face. Molly looked distinctly uncomfortable as she said in an even lower voice, "Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban."

Kat reeled back slightly. "Wh-what? Escaped? From Azkaban? I thought that was supposed to be impossible! I thought Azkaban was escape-proof?" She shook her head. "Not that it should impact Cari much. I mean, Hogwarts is probably the safest place out there. Why would Black want to break into a school, for crying out loud?"

An odd look crossed Molly's face. "Well, you see… I'm afraid Black might be planning to make a beeline for Hogwarts. Harry Potter is attending Hogwarts now. You met him earlier, I believe. A young boy with black hair and glasses? He's friends with Ronald. Harry is Black's godson, and there is a large faction of wizards who believe that Black is trying to regain what – or who - he sees as rightfully his."

Shaking her head violently, Kat protested. "No. No! I won't let Cari go. I won't let her be in that kind of danger just so she can be part of Dumbledore's little cultural exchange. She can just go back to Echowick."

Molly looked saddened. "But, Katherine, if things are as bad as you say, can she truly afford to return to Echowick? Headmistress Fleet was never one of my favorite people, but overreacting is not one of her sins. No, if Fleet thinks Cari must attend Hogwarts this year, she must. After all," Molly said, gaining traction again, "Hogwarts really is one of the safest places on the planet. I heard that they're even getting their own Dementor guard this year. Black would have to be completely mad to try getting in there."

Mouth pressed into a grim line, Kat nodded. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of." She was lost in thought for a few minutes, but looked back at Molly soon enough. "I suppose you're right," she sighed. "If Fleet says Cari shouldn't come back this year, she probably shouldn't. But I'm going to be a nervous wreck all year!"

Molly laughed. "Join the club! At least you've only one kid to worry about instead of seven!"

Kat grimaced and patted Molly on the back. "Truer words have never been spoken." They turned back to listen in on Cari's conversation with Arthur. Somehow, the topic had changed from escalators to projection screens and everyone was completely lost. Eventually, both sides gave up and the Weasley couple got ready to leave.

Arthur shook Cari's hand and thanked her for the talk. "You've given me much food for thought, my dear. Much food indeed. Are you staying at the Cauldron tonight?" They regretfully said that they were not, but hoped they would see the Weasleys at King's Cross the next day. Arthur shook John's hand next and then turned to give Kat a hug. He pulled back and frowned. "Katherine, you know you have to add salt to the soup right? It's not supposed to be that color. The salt balances two of the ingredients…"

Molly pulled him away before he could finish, but she gave each of them a hug as well. After she pulled away from Cari, she touched the girl's cheek. "Such a beautiful girl. In case we don't see you tomorrow, we hope you have a wonderful year at Hogwarts! Enjoy it!" Cari smiled, and then the two were gone. She, Kat, and John sat down at the booth again.

Cari and John laughed at Kat as she added half of the salt shaker to her bowl, which immediately let out a sizzle and began changing color. She scooped up a spoonful of the now pleasantly-purple soup, put it in her mouth, and groaned at the wonderful flavor. Kat shook the newly-empty spoon at John. "You see?" she demanded. "This is exactly why you have to try more than one dish at your so-called 'favorite restaurant'!"

John looked completely unrepentant as they finished their food, though he did pay for all of it before they headed back to his apartment for the night.

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Author's Note \- Psst! You! Hey, you! Want to know something? This is the very first chapter I wrote after coming up with the idea of Echowick and Cari's life. So, if you notice a decline in quality (or our first-ever non-Cari POV), that's why. In any case, thanks for reading! Special thanks to Ashes-To-Diamonds, HarryPotterFanHermione, and ghostcrab311 for the reviews! I hope this lived up to your expectations. Everyone have a great day and I'll see you next week!


	56. At King's Cross

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any of the characters, settings, ideas, or plotlines found within. These elements are the sole property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story.

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At King's Cross

The next day, Cari woke up feeling distinctly nervous, but couldn't remember why. After she laid there for a few minutes, it came back to her that she was leaving for Hogwarts that very day. She rolled out of bed and went to take a shower. Afterward, she dressed in black jeans and a silvery blouse Kat had bought her for the day. She also combed and squeezed product through her hair just as Kat had shown her to do all of those weeks ago. Where on earth had the summer gone?

She wandered back into the bedroom, packed the few things she hadn't yet, and made the bed. With nothing else to do, she walked into the kitchen. Kat, sitting at the small round table, looked up just as Cari entered the room. "Aww!" she exclaimed. "You look great! Can I do your makeup? Please?" She folded her hands under her chin and fluttered eyelashes at her niece, who only made it a few seconds before giving in.

Admitting defeat, she asked her aunt if they should go do the makeup first so they would be sure to have enough time. Kat looked shocked and outraged. "Have I taught you nothing?! Always eat and brush your teeth first, then put on makeup. There's an order to these things!"

Groaning, John stumbled into the room. His hair was sticking up in every direction known to man (and possibly inventing a few new ones), and he had obviously just woken up. With a small smile, Cari took a wild guess that he wasn't a morning person. Kat rolled her eyes and handed him a mug of steaming brown liquid. He took a gulp, paused a moment, and sputtered it all over half of the kitchen. Throwing the mug into the sink, he gasped out, "What _was_ that?!"

Grinning widely, Kat replied nonchalantly, "Diet Coke."

John gagged. "It was _warm_."

Kat nodded unsympathetically. "Call it revenge for the unsalted pea soup last night."

John threw her a disgusted look as he turned and stomped out of the kitchen. Kat watched his progress with a self-satisfied air. When he was out of earshot, she turned back to Cari. "So, what do you want for breakfast?"

Cari opened her mouth to ask about what had just happened, but decided she would rather not know. "Waffles?" she requested, remembering Friend John mentioning that it was the only food he had on hand. Kat turned to look through the freezer. Sure enough, there was a box of frozen waffles in it. She pulled out two waffles for each of them and popped them in the toaster before rifling through John's cabinets in search of syrup. Cari watched the process with interest. It was always fun to see Kat making herself at home, but soon her nerves came back up to swallow her. Groaning, she laid her head down, letting it thump against the tabletop.

A half-second later, there was a hand patting her shoulder. Cari could feel Kat sitting next to her. She allowed the question to come pouring out, the one she had been holding back for nearly a month. "What if I can't do it, Kat? What if I can't make it?"

"You will," her aunt said, encouragingly. It was exactly the response Cari had known was coming, but it was still comforting nonetheless.

She took a deep breath. "And if I don't? If I don't make it, what then? If people here try to hurt me? If-"

Kat interrupted, speaking over the rest of Cari's nightmare scenarios. "If something bad happens, bad enough that you - stubborn little thing that you are - don't want to stay there anymore, then you'll let me know and I'll come get you. You'll stay with me for a little while and we'll try again. People don't have long memories. You'll be out of the limelight as soon as a juicier piece of gossip comes along."

"Kat, what is this 'Incident' people keep talking about?" Cari hoped the question wasn't too much. After all, Kat had never pushed her to tell anything about herself. Cari probably should have returned the favor…

To her surprise, Kat laughed. "Let's just say that I was an incredibly imaginative teenager, especially when it came to getting into trouble. There weren't many things our Headmaster told us not to do, but I did my best to do every single one of those things. Spoiler alert: some of those things aren't supposed to be done for a reason."

That wasn't a real answer, but just as Cari was about to point that out, Kat cut her off again. "Sorry, kid. That's all I'm telling you about the 'Incident' until you're older and I'm not legally responsible for your actions." She muttered, almost to herself, "After all, once was enough."

She was saved from further questioning only by John coming back into the room. He had shaved, gotten dressed, and combed his hair – though Cari couldn't even begin to figure out how he had gotten that mess of hair to lie flat. He lifted his chin to sniff the air. "Do I smell waffles?" he questioned hopefully.

Kat smiled at him. "Yep. Spicy chili pepper waffles with Velveeta syrup. How many should I make for you?"

John made a face at her as both girls laughed. After their waffles popped up out of the toaster, John put them on plates and brought them to the table, along with butter, syrup, knives, and forks. He then grabbed a couple of waffles for himself and stuck them in the toaster. He settled down in the other chair and they ate in a comfortable silence until Kat gasped. "Look at what time it is! We've got to hurry if we're going to get you ready!"

She pulled Cari off to the bathroom, where they both brushed their teeth before Kat went to work on Cari. Several mysterious brushes and some time later, Cari had to admit that she looked pretty good. Somehow, Kat had managed to make her skin glow and lips look silky smooth, but none of it compared to the work of art that was her eyes. The gray had been transformed into deep, enigmatic silver framed perfectly by her dark, fanning lashes. To top it off, Kat managed to surprise her with a brand-new pair of soft black boots. Even Cari had to admit that the silver buckles matched the outfit perfectly.

When they left the bathroom, John greeted them with a shocked but wide smile. "You look great, Mini-Kat!" He pulled a small suitcase out from behind him. "Here's your welcome-to-Hogwarts present."

She frowned, confused. "But friend John, I already have a bag." Realizing how ungrateful that sounded, she blushed. "I mean, I really like it-"

John laughed. "No, this is your bag. That's my present to you. I put a spell on it so that it'll be this small, light suitcase for the next few hours. Long enough for you to get to Hogwarts, at any rate. When you open it, it'll turn into one of the trunks that most Hogwarts kids have."

"Thank you so much!" Cari exclaimed. "I didn't even think to ask what kind of bag kids have at Hogwarts. You've just made my day so much easier." It was a step outside of her comfort zone, but Cari shyly gave John a quick hug. After all, he had been so nice to let her and Kat stay with him. He hugged her back willingly enough. "You're welcome, Mini-Kat."

Full-sized Kat picked up Cari's new suitcase. "Much as I hate to say it, we probably need to head over to King's Cross now." Everyone agreed and they went on their way. John hailed a cab, insisting that the slight drizzle would be unpleasant after a while. Cari didn't even try to disagree. Before she knew it, they were pulling into the station and John paid the cab driver.

John led the group straight to a wall. "Here you go! The entrance to Platform 9 ¾." Cari stared at him, thinking that it must be an elaborate joke.

Kat rolled her eyes. "Come on, Cari. We'll go through together." Leaning down, she whispered, "Don't act surprised; that's what he wants. It's a false wall. We'll be fine."

Walking at a brisk pace, arm in arm, the two witches approached the wall and continued walking. Cari blinked at the change in scenery. Now that they were on the other side of the wall, they were surrounded by kids of all ages. Some wore black robes while others wore normal-looking clothes. A few even had colorful scarves wound around their necks, though the day was hardly cold enough to need them. Cari could scarcely take it all in.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind them. "Hello, Miss Romana." Cari and Kat both turned to find Headmistress Fleet standing a few feet away. She looked momentarily startled at Kat's presence, but recovered well. "Miss Romana the elder," she said, bowing her head. "It has been a while, has it not?"

Kat grinned. "Hey, Fleet! How's it going?"

To Cari's surprise, Fleet didn't look disapproving so much as she looked wryly amused. "Well, I have been escorting nine teenagers around London for the past two days and was in charge of bringing them here today- On time, no less. You tell me how things are going."

Kat shook her head in amazement. "Probably better than they would be going for anyone else. You going on the train with them as well?"

Fleet shuddered. "No. I am going back to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. Headmaster Dumbledore is going to drop the wards for a moment so that I may Apparate to Hogwarts a little later in the day, hopefully with a little liquid courage in my system."

Cari gaped at the change in the always-strict headmistress. Fleet noticed her shock and smiled. "Believe it or not, Miss Romana, I was not always Headmistress of Echowick. Your aunt and I attended as students for several years together. Trust me, I got to know her rather well." She shot a pointed look at Kat, who looked utterly unrepentant.

"Sounds like you need that drink pretty badly, Fleet. I'd get going if I were you. Otherwise, you won't have time to enjoy it before you have to get to Hogwarts."

Fleet nodded sharply before turning away and walking back through the wall. Cari turned to Kat, eyes wide. Kat shrugged. "She really is a nice lady, for a headmistress."

There didn't seem to be a good way to respond to that, so Cari didn't bother. Besides, she could see the rest of the Echowick students gathered at one end of the platform. She told Kat that she would go greet them. Kat looked nervous, but said that she was going to go search for John, who seemed to have disappeared. As Cari walked over to her group, she was nearly run over by a blond boy followed by two bigger, dark-haired boys. The bigger ones were carrying a trunk between them, struggling to keep up with the blond's pace. When they reached a certain spot, they dropped the trunk unceremoniously and pushed it so that it slid through the wall and, presumably, out the other side. Cari didn't know exactly what to think of this, so she moved on. A moment later, she rethought the decision as a boy ran toward the barrier, shouting that his trunk had been stolen. She nearly turned around, but her former schoolmates had finally caught sight of her.

She recognized a few of the Echowick students, but was the most excited to see Duncan Jones. She hadn't spoken to him very often since the Forgetfulness Potion incident, but she knew he was studying to be a magical photographer, learning the correct potions and spells to ensure that the photos he took would move forever. They had never been close, but they were friendly enough She greeted him warmly, but before he could respond, the blond boy and his two friends were back.

"Hello," he said, nodding deeply to them. "My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe," the boy on the back left nodded, "and Goyle," the boy on the back right nodded. "We're Hogwarts' official welcoming committee. May I take your trunks to stow aboard the train?"

Duncan – stupid, trusting Duncan – enthusiastically agreed to the offer. "Why, thank you! It's so great that they have people like you out offering to help those of us who aren't familiar with how everything works."

If Cari had any doubts about the boys, they were taken care of when Malfoy lifted his head. His eyes held a mischievous glint that made her blood boil. Duncan pushed his trunk in the boys' direction and Malfoy had already begun reaching for it when Cari grabbed the handle and swung the trunk back around behind her. Malfoy looked up at her, anger showing on his face, though he tried to quickly school it into a look of question. Duncan didn't leave his questions to the imagination. "Cari, what are you doing? Give him the trunk."

Cari didn't even look at him, keeping her eyes trained on the trio in front of her. "Trust me, Duncan. You don't want these morons anywhere near your trunk."

Duncan gave an exasperated sigh. "Romana, let go of my trunk!"

Malfoy straightened up, a gleeful smirk stretching across his face. " _Romana?_ " He laughed. "A Romana at _my_ school? And one who thinks she can pick a fight with _me_?" The boy snickered with his friends for a moment before looking back at Cari. "I think you're going to let me have the trunk, just like your friend wants. When that's done, you're going to apologize, walk away, and keep your head down for the rest of the year. Aren't you?"

Cari just stared at him, face impassive. She had dealt with enough people like this kid to know exactly what she was dealing with. "I think you're going to walk away and forget this ever happened. And if I see you pulling another stunt like you did with that boy's trunk," she pointed at the boy from earlier, who had just retrieved his belongings, "I'm going to beat the pampered, spoiled, _Pure-Blooded_ snot out of you. Understood?" It was a bit harsh, but the boy's bullying had managed to press every button Cari possessed.

His face darkened with anger. "You filthy _Mongrel_! How dare you threaten me?"

"Mostly because I don't care who you are. You're a jerk and a bully, and that makes you the lowest kind of person on the planet, Pure-Blood or not." Draco began to sputter.

A hand lowered onto Malfoy's shoulder. "What is going on, son? Who is your friend?" The questions came from a tall man with Draco's light hair.

Cari nodded at him. "Hello, sir. It's so nice to meet the legendary Mr. Malfoy." She didn't know for certain who he was, but the fact that he called Draco 'son' meant that his name was likely Malfoy as well. Not to mention that the hair was a pretty definite sign of a genetic link.

Sure enough, the man preened, smoothing an elegant hand over both his long platinum hair and the breast of his black trench coat in the same motion. "Delighted, I'm sure. And you are?"

"The filthy Mongrel who just threated to beat the life out of your son. Pleasure." Cari wasn't much for confrontation, but the look on the elder Malfoy's face made the conflict more than worthwhile.

A laugh sounded from behind Cari. Kat sauntered up to stand next to Cari, though she noticed her aunt had angled herself slightly forward to offer Cari some protection. Kat gave a little finger wave as she greeted the pair in front of her, "Lucy. How's it hanging?" Draco made a noise of outrage and Kat directed her next comments to him. "Aww, and you brought the Mini-Me! Fantastic. Have to let him out of the house sometimes, no matter how embarrassing he is. What a good father."

Lucius let out a bored sigh as he examined his nails. "The only embarrassment here, Mongrel, is you. Get out of my sight while I still allow it. But make sure that," he pointed at Cari, "apologizes to my son first."

Kat rolled her eyes. "If you really feel the urge to order someone around, try the servant coming up behind you. Oh, sorry! I believe you call her your 'wife'." Lucius turned around to see his wife was indeed approaching. When he turned back to Kat, his face was starting to redden in anger. Kat smirked. "Just so you know, the 'checking your fingernails' bit only works if you're _not_ wearing gloves. But that's enough free advice for one day. Catch ya later, Neo." She gave a sarcastic salute to Lucius, then waved to Draco. "Mini-Me. Goodbye, Jeeves!" she called to Lucius's wife.

Mrs. Malfoy gave a rather impressive lip curl. "What is _that_ doing here?"

Kat grinned. "Always a pleasure, Narcissa." With that, she turned with Cari and they began to walk away leisurely. Kat warned, "For future reference, it's never a good idea to turn your back on someone you've ticked off, but we're safe in this public a place. Plus, it adds a bit of delicious insult, you know? By the way, I'm loving the backbone, but in the future, if you're going to take on Lucius Malfoy, at least give me a heads-up. I would like to be there from the beginning." The words were stern, but everything else was not. The smile on Kat's face spoke more of pride than anything else.

"Romana! Romana! Hey, Cari! Hang on a second." Duncan's voice stopped them as he walked up to face Cari. "I didn't need your help back there."

Something in his tone made Kat become instantly serious, but Cari just said, "Oh, don't worry about it. I didn't want him to pull any of that troublemaking stuff with you if I could help it."

"That's just it!" Duncan said. "I didn't _want_ your help. I _don't_ want your help. In fact, I don't even want to be _talking_ to you. I don't want or need anything from a- a- a _murderous Mongrel_ like you!"

In a split second, Kat's wand was up and pressed into Duncan's throat, but a hand on her upper arm kept her from doing anything too catastrophic. "'Murderous Mongrel'?" John drawled. "Hey, thanks for the sick band name, kid." He pulled Kat's arm down. "From now on, though, I'd watch who you say that to. You never know who has powerful friends around here." With that, he wrapped one arm around Kat and the other around Cari and steered them away. "What, did you two decide to tick off everyone in King's Cross today?"

Cari was numb. If Duncan, a boy who had been a friend of sorts, was this hostile, what kind of treatment could she expect from everyone else? The answer made her stomach sink. Willing her eyes to stop watering, she turned to her aunt. Kat, visibly seething, became instantly attentive when she saw the look on Cari's face. "Cari? Hon, don't listen to anything that little pile of-" John sharply cleared his throat and Kat paused. "-cowardice had to say. He was obviously a moron, and to be frank, I don't want you hanging around with him anyway."

Cari mustered up a smile for her aunt, but remained unconvinced. She looked around, alarmed. "Oh, no! I forgot my-"

A red-haired boy walked up. "Hey, I think this is yours." He held out her suitcase. Cari took it, sighing gratefully and the boy stuck out his hand. "I'm Ron Weasley. Saw what you did back there with the Malfoys. It was bloody _brilliant_!"

A man she recognized as Charlie from the Leaky Cauldron came up behind his brother with a huge smile on his face. "I never even went to school with the kid and I was cheering you on."

Cari was aghast. "You saw that?" She buried her face in her hands and groaned, "Oh, no…"

The Weasley twins walked over to stand next to Kat. Laughing, Fred said, "Hate to break it to you, but everyone saw that."

George chimed in, "Malfoy isn't the most popular bloke at Hogwarts. I'm pretty sure you just became just about everyone's hero."

Cari couldn't figure out how to answer that, but was saved by an announcement that students could board the train. Kat wrapped Cari in a tight hug. "Ooohhh!" she said, squeezing her niece. "I can't believe it's time for you to leave already! It's been so great. Make sure you write, okay? Even if it's just the occasional note." Cari nodded, trying not to be emotional.

John was next. He gave her a quick hug. "It was lovely meeting you, Mini-Kat! Don't have too much fun at Hogwarts, okay?"

Cari smiled up at him. "I'll try not to, Friend John. Thanks so much for letting us stay with you. And for taking us to Diagon Alley. And also for dinner last night."

John smiled. "Don't mention it. You ready?"

Kat hugged her again. "Don't forget to have fun! And to stand up for yourself. But mostly remember to relax and enjoy the year."

Cari laughed. "Thanks so much for everything, Kat. Travel safely home and I'll definitely write!"

Kat ruffled her niece's hair. "Love ya, kid."

Cari smoothed her hair down before picking up her suitcase. She tried to move forward, but the students were pressing so close that she made no progress. One of the twins – George, she thought – snatched her suitcase out of her hand. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he spoke close to her ear so she could hear him through the crowd. "There's a bit of a trick to getting through the crowd. Hang on, Fred and I will show you."

Nodding, Cari allowed him to take her bag, but jumped violently when Fred shouted, "Oi! Move, you lot! Move! Now! Make way for the new champion of Hogwarts! Bane of Malfoy's existence, coming through!" Cari turned around to look at Kat, her face filled with confusion and laughter. Kat was laughing openly and shot a wink at her niece as she motioned to follow the twins.

Fred and George kept up a steady stream of bellowing as they moved, cutting through the dense crowd. Before Cari knew it, she had been escorted to an empty compartment. George swung her suitcase up into a luggage rack and both boys grinned at her. Cari shook her head in amazement. "I can't believe you guys did that. I can't believe it _worked_! But- I mean, thank you."

Fred held up a finger in the universal 'wait a second' sign as he fished through his pockets. He extracted a small brown bag and handed it to Cari, who opened it. The bag was filled with a homemade lunch. At her odd look, Fred explained, "Mum figured Kat would forget to tell you to bring food. She told us to give this to you. Hope you like turkey."

Cari was a little uncomfortable about eating a sandwich that had been kept in a strange boy's pocket for who knows how long, but it would seem ungrateful to say so. Besides, it felt like there was a cooling spell of some kind on the bag. She smiled up at the twins. "Thank you again. It was very sweet of your mother to think of me. Please thank her for me as soon as you can."

A voice from down the hall barked, "Fred! George!" The twins' heads whipped around and they donned identical grins. They looked back to Cari and she waved them off. "Go ahead. I'll be good here."

George shrugged. "Still seems a shame to leave you alone. Tell you what: we have to go make the rounds, but if you need anything, call for us, yeah?" Cari nodded and they were gone. Left alone, she got her suitcase down – making a mental note to thank John again for the enchantment – retrieved a book and her music player, and stretched out along the seat, settling in comfortably. She sighed. This, for her, was true bliss. She turned on the shuffle mode, plugged in her headphones, and cracked open one of her new textbooks.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, I know it seems like we're making no progress on getting Cari to Hogwarts. I assure you, though it is going a little more slowly than I would like, we _are_ getting closer. Also, when I uploaded the next few sections, I realized that several of them are shorter than I had remembered, so I'll likely end up doubling chapters in the next few weeks. As for reviews...

Thanks as usual to Ashes-To-Diamonds for the never-ending support. It means so much!

HarryPotterFanHermione: your comment on Percy's dialogue made me laugh so hard! And sorry to disappoint on the names of the soup, but I visited The Leaky Cauldron in Universal Orlando and those were some of the soups listed on their board of specials. It amused me so much that I wanted to include it, but I probably should have added an explanation. Thanks for keeping me accountable on my standards for creativity, though! ;)

RebelliousPrince: I'm so glad you like the story so far and thank you for all of your wonderful questions! Unfortunately, Echowick focuses very highly on one specialty per student (much like an America vocational-technical school), so Cari opting into wandsmith classes would have been too suspicious. I apologize for the lack of action, but as most of the characters are still underage, I thought the major duels should be kept to a minimum. As for self-defense type classes, I completely agree that students should be taking them, but the situation is very similar to the years following World War II. Since America was kept largely out of the action (in this case, with Grindelwald), they mostly focused on isolationism until the collapse of the economy (and later, a direct attack) brought attention back to politics on the worldwide stage. I hope that wasn't too nerdy for you! Long story short, where Hogwarts students take Defense Against the Dark Arts - since that is considered to be the most common form of danger they might encounter - Echowick students take Survival, since their most-likely danger is getting lost in the woods without access to magic. Lastly, I wish I could say that Cari spends time at Ilvermorny, but I just don't know enough about the school to confidently write about it, especially when JKR could drop some information that could completely kill off the accuracy of my story. For now, Cari will probably just stick with Hogwarts and Echowick. Thanks again for the wonderful review!

And now, just to wrap things up, thanks to everyone for reading! If you want to drop me a review and leave any questions, I'm probably going to start answering them like I did above. Don't know why I didn't start that WAY sooner, actually. Last note, sorry for the late post. It's been a crazy week, but things should go back to normal soon. On that note, have a great day today, tomorrow, or whenever you read this. Thanks again and goodnight!


	57. On The Hogwarts Express

**Adventures At Echowick**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related characters, settings, situations, etc. These are the property of J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

On The Hogwarts Express

Cari had fallen asleep minutes after the train had started to move. It had been a long morning already, and the rest of the day promised to be a trial as well. Lulled by a playlist of peaceful songs and the sound of wheels on a track, she slipped into a deep slumber.

She woke up to silence. Both headphones had fallen out of her ears and the train had stopped. Rain pattered softly against the windows, but she could see nothing but darkness. A tendril of cold air swept across her cheek and Cari frowned. It was September and she had been closed in a compartment for who knew how long. The air should be warm and stagnant, not chilly. Slowly, Cari held a hand up to the window. She lowered her hand steadily until it was pressed against the glass. The glass was a little cool, but as moments passed, it grew gradually colder. Eventually, she pulled her hand away, cradling it to her body. Sure enough, her palm had grown numb and fingers were quickly following.

Looking out into the darkness, she would have sworn she could see shapes moving. She leaned closer, but pulled back as frost crept gradually across the glass. What on earth was happening? The lights flickered and Cari paused for a moment to wonder if she was still asleep or had accidentally slipped into a horror movie when she wasn't paying attention. The door started to open and she internally sighed. That was it: she was in a horror movie.

Any fleeting sense of humor was slowly dissolving, even as she turned toward the door. In fact, all good feeling whatsoever was disappearing. Even before she clapped eyes on it, she knew that the Dementor would be standing in the doorway. The horrific creatures had only been covered briefly in one of her past classes, but the terror wrought by the knowledge of their existence was enough to sear itself into her brain.

The formless being walked further into the room and inhaled lightly. Cari would have sworn that – today especially – she didn't have any happiness for the creature to steal, but she was wrong. Slowly, so slowly that she hadn't noticed, Cari had started to build herself back up. The time she had spent with Kat had begun to heal the wounds of Shadow's death, but in one rattling breath, the Dementor ripped all of the wounds open again.

Cari began to weep, the intense emotional pain forcing her heart to literally stutter. Weakly, she tried to stand. Why, she didn't exactly know, maybe to get out into the hallway and find help, but it didn't truly matter. She managed to stand upright for exactly half a second before her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the floor of the compartment. The Dementor moved a few inches closer and Cari instinctively curled up with her back against the wall. The tears rolled down her face in heaving sobs. There was an odd moment of silence as the Dementor surveyed her until, apparently satisfied that the job had been completed, turned and swept out of the compartment. Somehow, it closed the door behind its flowing, tattered robes without revealing any sort of hands.

After it had left, Cari lay on the floor until the sobs slowed to a soft weeping. She pulled herself upright and waited until the waterworks had faded to a steady flow of slow tears before crawling back onto the padded bench seat. She tried to turn on her music again, if only to give her a place to begin rebuilding herself, but the player was dead. How had she forgotten? Dementors killed all electronics in their immediate area. What better way was there to make someone feel depressed and unloved than to cut them off from all friends and family? Suddenly, she was exhausted, too worn-out to hold her head up anymore. With a sigh, Cari let her head settle onto her pulled-up knees, staring out of her window on the Hogwarts Express and began to slowly soak the knee of her jeans with the tears that wouldn't stop flowing.

* * *

Fred and George looked at each other in frustration. Seriously, when were people going to get over the Dementor thing and talk about something - anything - else? They had just started moving again and still had a solid hour until they reached Hogwarts. It was going to be a long hour if everyone was stuck on one subject.

The small compartment was packed with people – easily five over what it should reasonably fit – so when the door opened, no one paid much attention. That is, until a familiar voice announced, "Attention, students! Does anyone know where Ginny Weasley is sitting?" The twins made eye contact and simultaneously rolled their gazes upward. Was this going to be how Percy acted all year? They both rose reluctantly from their seats and wound their way over to the door, pressing Percy backwards into the corridor.

George was the first to ask, "What is it now, Percy? Why do you need Ginny?"

Percy had the decency to look profoundly uncomfortable. "It's not important, really. I just need to speak to Ginny, ask her for a favor. Nothing special, honestly. Do either of you happen to know which compartment she's in?"

Both boys crossed their arms and wore stubborn expressions. "No explanation, no sister."

Looking outright guilty now – _fascinating_ , the twins thought – Percy quietly admitted, "I need her help with Cari. I did something bad."

Protective instincts flaring up, both boys demanded, "What kind of bad?" They would have invaded a small country to protect their brother – if not for the sheer fun of it – but they had actually promised to watch out for Cari. What was going on?

Percy looked down at his shoes, a sure sign that he was at fault for something. "Well, I was sent to make sure everyone is wearing their Hogwarts robes, so I was going compartment to compartment. I knocked on one and there was only one person in it. It was a girl. She was sitting with her face turned away from me, I promise!" He trailed off and the twins each made a gesture that said, 'get on with it'. He cleared his throat and continued. "She turned to me when I started lecturing her. When I saw who it was, I just told her sternly that she needed to change into her robes. Rules are rules, you know. I can't ignore a rule just because I know her-"

Fred cut off his older brother. "Perce. We really need to know what happened. Shut up about the rules stuff, would you?"

Looking thoroughly ashamed, Percy's next words came out quickly. "Shehadbeencrying." At the twins' confused looks, he clarified, "Well, actually, she was still crying. Might still be now, to tell the truth. I panicked and left the compartment, so I have no idea what's going on in there."

It was a bad situation all around, but George couldn't help but laugh. "You panicked? How did her crying freak you out? You deal with Ginny's tears all the time and we've never seen you blink an eye."

Percy shook his head. "It's not the same. Ginny, I can deal with. I know exactly what kind of person she is and what makes her get upset. But with Cari… They were real tears. _Girl_ tears. I didn't know what to do!" He shifted about uncomfortably. "Anyway, do you happen to know where Ginny is? I really need her help to fix this."

Fred lifted an eyebrow. "Why do you need Ginny's help? Surely the Head Boy, pride of Gryffindor, can comfort one crying female on the Hogwarts Express by himself without asking his little sister for help."

Percy started to look desperate and George took pity on him. "Sorry, Perce. We don't know where Ginny is." After a moment's silent deliberation with his twin, George sighed. "But we'll go talk to Cari ourselves and try to find out what's going on."

Taking exactly two steps back, Percy planted himself firmly in the middle of the corridor, arms folded over his chest. "I'm sorry. You two cannot go to her compartment." They exchanged amused glances and began to walk past their older brother, but he pushed them back. "You guys aren't what I'd call the 'comforting' type. I don't need you going in there to mock, or laugh, or make jokes. You might think you're helping, but you'll just make things worse." He glanced down the hallway behind him. "Besides, I've made considerable progress checking compartments. I'll find Ginny in a few minutes and ask her to talk to Cari for me. Thank you for being willing, but this is for the best."

With that, the Head Boy turned around and walked to the next compartment, knocked, and asked about Ginny. The twins watched his progress for a few moments. Each knew what the other was thinking: after the next compartment, Percy would have to move on to the next car. Once he left, they would be free to go check on Cari, who was one car in the other direction. Sure, they could have left Ginny to keep their promise to Kat, but if there was one thing Percy should know to never do, it was tell the twins not to do something. That just made it a challenge, and Fred and George Weasley never backed away from a challenge.

In thirty seconds, Percy had discovered that Ginny was not in the next compartment and began to move to the next car. Just as he closed the door, he shot a suspicious glance over his shoulder at the twins, who pretended to be opening the door of their compartment, ready to go back in. Mollified, Percy closed the door of the car behind him. Fred and George were walking the opposite direction almost immediately.

They knocked on the door, simultaneously. There were some things they always did together, no matter what, and this ritual was one of those things. After a beat, no answer came from inside the compartment, so the twins knocked again.

"Can I help- Oh, it's you two. Is everything okay?" Trying to cover their initial jumps by turning quickly, George and Fred whipped around to see Cari standing behind them in freshly-donned school robes, an inquisitive look on her upturned face. They studied her silently, trying in vain to detect any sign of tears, but couldn't find any. Her eyes and nose were clear of redness, she didn't sound stuffed up when she had spoken, and her eye makeup didn't look like she had been wiping away tears.

This all was welcome. Though spiting Percy had been a good reason to come, second only to keeping their promise to Kat, they actually wouldn't know how to comfort a crying girl more than any other teenage boys would – that is, not at all. Yes, things were far better this way, and yet the boys exchanged slightly disappointed glances. Realizing that Cari was still expecting an answer, George cleared his throat. "Yeah, everything's okay. We were just, uh…"

Seeing that his brother was about to tank, Fred cut in, "We just thought we would swing by and see if there were any questions about Hogwarts we could answer for you."

A grateful George picked up the verbal baton, adding, "You know, before we get there. Wouldn't want you to be scared off by anything you'll find."

Cari gave them both an odd look, but it passed as she gestured back the way they had come. "Well, that's very kind of you, and I thank you very much, but shouldn't you be spending time with your friends? 'Making the rounds', as you called it?"

They were saved from answering by the arrival of Percy and Ginny. Percy, seeming out of breath, glared at his twin brothers before looking at Cari. "Well, you seem like you're feeling better. Is everything okay?"

Looking from one Weasley to another, Cari studied each face individually. Her shoulders slumped as she sighed. "Seriously? Did Kat tell you guys to keep an eye on me or something?" She shook her head, a wry grin tugging at one corner of her mouth. "You're all wonderful people, but I am really okay. I can take care of myself. I'll even write Kat and tell her to relieve you all from duty if that will help things along. Thank you, though. It was a very sweet thought."

The silence that followed was almost deafening. However, it lasted only a few beats before being broken. Laughing, Fred slung an arm around Kat's shoulders, killing the awkwardness. "Yeah, right! Like it's going to be that easy."

George patted the top of her head as he said, "You're pretty much one of us now. You've insulted Malfoy, got caught crying, and told us off – though in a nicer way than we're used to. You'll just have to deal with us from now on."

Rolling her eyes, Ginny looped her arm through Cari's. "Come on, let's go in your compartment and talk. We'll make all of these _boys_ ," she exaggerated the word, sticking her tongue out, "go away. Sound like a plan?"

Extricating herself from the family, Cari furrowed her brow at Ginny. "But… honestly, you don't have to hang out with me just because Kat asked you to. I'm used to being on my own and I'm really more comfortable that way."

"Do you know how long I've waited to have someone around here who understands what I go through? This is only a small taste of what's to come. Besides, where else am I going to go? Back to my compartment with Harry, Ron, and Hermione? She's nice enough, but I see Ron too much as it is, thank you very much. Plus, there's a professor in there." Cari mentally noted that Ginny left out any description or complaint about Harry, but was sidetracked by Ginny's pleading, "Please let me stay with you? Please?"

Cari looked around, trying to figure out an excuse for needing private time, but could think of nothing. She sighed and opened the door to the compartment. Ginny smiled beatifically and Cari realized she had been thoroughly played. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "Fred, George, go get my trunk, would you? I think I'll ride with Cari for the rest of the trip to Hogwarts." The twins sketched out simultaneous salutes and disappeared.

Percy watched them leave with narrowed eyes. "So they did know where she was sitting…" He looked back at his sister and Cari. "If you don't need anything else, ladies?" They shook their heads and he walked off, probably in search of someone else who dared to break the rules.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know, shorter chapter than usual. Don't worry, I'll post another one on Thursday to make up for it! Also, another departure from Cari's POV! Gasp! Just a reminder that this is still content written over a year ago, so bear with me. We're quickly coming up on content written much more recently.

Athenasdaughter: I'm so sorry to have missed you last week! Thank you so much for your review and the compliments, even if you are still upset with me. ;)

RebelliousPrince: Glad you enjoyed! And I'll definitely have to check out that fic. It's really difficult to find decent stories about schools other than the European ones, so I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation! And, as someone with ridiculously curly hair, I couldn't help but give Cari the trait as well. Write what you know, right?

ghostcrab311: Thank you! I'm so glad the whole confrontation didn't come off as the cliche 'Mary-Sue pointlessly confronts the villain' trope. It would definitely be bad news for Cari to be in Slytherin, but you'll notice that she does have some of the qualities... Not saying anything for certain, but there's so much potential for where it could go!

Before I wrap up this author's note, I would like to give a quick apology for the lateness of posting. Everything has been a little crazy recently and it looks like it won't calm down for another week or so. Don't worry; no matter how late in the day I might post a chapter, I'm determined that this fic will be updated on the scheduled day every week, unless I specifically say otherwise (exception: emergencies, of course). All right, friends, that's it for now! Thanks for reading, have a lovely day, and I'll see you all on Thursday!


	58. Hogwarts

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related characters, settings, situations, etc. These belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the original characters and elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Hogwarts

The rest of the train ride passed quickly as Ginny and Cari talked. It was strange; Cari didn't usually connect with people this way. The last one had been Kat, and even that had taken a while. But with Ginny, there were no awkward silences, no gaps in conversation, just talking and laughing. Cari found out all about Ginny's childhood, growing up with six older brothers. She also learned a fair bit about the way Hogwarts worked. Fleet had told her that the Echowick students would be treated, essentially, as first-year students. They would go through the sorting ceremony, be divided into houses, be shown around the castle, then start the Hogwarts equivalent of the Echowick classes they were supposed to be taking this year.

Finally, the train slowed and eventually stopped. When the train had stilled completely, Cari stood up and grabbed her suitcase. Ginny eyed it in confusion. "I don't want to sound rude, but… I mean, Hogwarts students usually choose to bring a trunk…" She trailed off uncomfortably.

Cari laughed, breaking the awkwardness. She opened the suitcase, allowing it to transform into the same type of large trunk as Ginny's. The younger girl looked confused, especially when Cari swung the lid of the trunk down, shrinking the trunk into a light suitcase once again. "Friend John – that is, Kat's 'friend' John – enchanted it for me so that it is a light bag when it's closed, but will change back into the trunk when it's opened. It'll only last until the end of the day, but it was still a really nice thought." She paused as they both looked up at Ginny's trunk. "Uh, do you want help getting that down?"

The door opened abruptly. "That's what we're here for!" Fred and George bustled into the compartment, pulled the trunk down, and took it around the corner and down the hallway. George reappeared a moment later, grabbed Cari's suitcase from her hand, and disappeared with it as well. Cari could only stand there, open-mouthed.

Giggling, Ginny said, "Sorry, Cari. As far as I know, they're putting our stuff over where we're supposed to drop the trunks. They'll be transported to the castle and taken to our rooms. We don't have to do anything else with them. Easy for us, yeah?"

Cari shrugged. "I suppose. Doesn't it ever make you nervous, not knowing where your stuff is or who has it?"

"Nah. Nothing bad has ever happened to it before. I don't see why that would suddenly change this year." Ginny's lack of concern rubbed off on Cari as she followed her new red-headed friend out of the compartment door and into the hallway. From there, it was a short trip out of the train car. Since it was nighttime, there wasn't much for Cari to see; a few buildings, some carriages, and the edge of a body of water were all that was in sight.

"Hey, want to share a carriage to the castle?" Ginny asked, but before Cari could answer, the twins reappeared.

"Yeah, let's all ride together!" "That way, we can make sure that Ginny isn't telling you any more lies about our childhood!" The twins, speaking in unison as usual, smiled mischievously.

Ginny glared fiercely at her brothers. "Tell me you weren't low enough to listen outside of our door!" George and Fred gave her suspiciously innocent faces and she groaned. "Of course you did, you _children_! You should be ashamed. We will not be riding with you up to the castle! Come on, Cari. Let's find our own carriage."

"Why don't you just ride with us?" Ron walked up, Harry and Hermione following a few feet behind. Harry looked curiously at Cari while Hermione smiled welcomingly. Ginny pouted and stomped her foot, seeming ready to argue when someone else spoke.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. Cari won't be riding with anyone." Cari looked over to see the new arrival: Percy again, who seemed to have adjusted his Head Boy badge so that it was even more prominently placed on his robes. "Cari, if you'll come with me? The first years and your fellow students are over here. You'll be taking a short boat trip to the castle instead of riding the carriages."

Slightly relieved to be escaping the family arguments, Cari followed the Head Boy, waving goodbye to the group over her shoulder. "See you in a bit!" "Have fun!" "Good luck!" "Don't get sorted into Slytherin!" Cari was almost one-hundred percent certain the last comment came from Ron. This was confirmed when Hermione dug an elbow into his ribs. "What?" he asked. "How much would it suck to have to make sure no one picked on her if she got sorted into Slytherin? Imagine all the stuff Malfoy could do to her then!"

Stress seized Cari's stomach in a fiery rush. The conversation with Ginny had calmed her down, distracted her, but now she was paying for it. All the built-up worry crashed into her at once. It felt like she was dying. On top of everything else, her nerves were still raw from the encounter with the Dementor from earlier.

Draco Malfoy walked past in the other direction, his two silent cronies in tow. "If I were you, Mongrel, I would put a hole in my own boat and drown in the lake."

Gripping the wand concealed in the pocket of her robes, Cari whispered a nearly inaudible incantation, causing a small rock to rise slightly out of the ground – right in front of Malfoy's foot. He rammed into the ground, face first, his henchmen narrowly avoiding the same fate. She continued to face forward, allowing him to wonder for just a moment if she hadn't done it after all. At the last possible moment, she twisted her torso just enough to see him, smiled, and said conspiringly, "If I were you, I would learn how to keep upright while walking. I've heard a rumor that it's a lot easier that way."

When she turned forward again, she nearly bumped into Percy's back. He had stopped moving and he slowly rotated to face her. He opened his mouth, glanced behind her at Malfoy, closed his mouth, shook his head, and kept moving. As far as Cari could figure, this was the closest Percy would ever get to telling her it was okay to have broken the rules.

Fortunately for Cari and her lack of relationship with her fellow Echowick students, they arrived at the group just in time to board a boat. She was placed in the front of a boat filled with first-years who talked amongst themselves rather than to her. Cari didn't mind a bit. She generally preferred to be alone with her thoughts.

Hogwarts came into view quietly. Cari had expected some kind of fanfare, something extravagant to show off the school and how amazing it was. Instead, the castle merely stood silent and stately, resolute against the ever-increasing wind. It seemed like it could stand far more than a few gusts from a lake. The stone of the castle walls looked solid, appearing almost blue in the glow of the moon. Light poured through the windows. Cari knew it was just the contrast of the blue tint, but the light looked to be a pure golden yellow. She couldn't help but hold her breath as the bow of her boat sliced through the reflections of those sunny-looking rectangles. It was so peaceful, so serene. With a start, Cari realized that the mere sight of the castle made her feel… safe. At home, even. That wasn't a feeling she could say Echowick had ever given her.

The boats came to a gentle stop, one by one, in a large cavern. A large man stood up from his boat- a very large man. In fact, Cari didn't know how on earth she had missed him in the first place. "Follow me, firs' years!" He beckoned them up a curving stone staircase behind him. Cari allowed the three first-years in her boat to disembark first, but they took long enough that she was bringing up the back of the group. She used the lack of observation to study her new surroundings. One flight of stairs led to a landing, where another set of stairs led upward in the opposite direction. The walls were covered with paintings, most of which were moving. Intrigued, Cari stepped closer to one hanging on the wall of the landing. The man looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place the face. "Hello!" the man greeted cheerfully. Cari jumped back in momentary alarm, but soon leaned forward again.

"Um… hello." She looked around the portrait in an attempt to find a descriptive tag bearing his name. "I'm sorry, who might you be?"

The man gave a deep bow, sweeping off his large hat in the process. "My apologies, dear lady. I am Sir Elliot Smethwyck. You may know me as the –"

"You're the one who invented the Cushioning Charm! I read about you in my textbooks! It's so wonderful to meet you!" Cari couldn't help but gush. It was so strange to be 'meeting' someone she had only read about in a book.

The wizard looked delighted. "On the contrary! It is my honor to be acquainted with such an intelligent and discerning young witch in these frightfully unlearned times. Might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

Cari blushed. "I am Licaria, but please call me Cari." She felt silly, introducing herself to a painting. After all, the memory of it was probably on some kind of a loop. He would likely remember her for a few hours at best. She wouldn't be rude to the man, seeing as he was some kind of a representation of one of her favorite broom craftsmen. Despite this, he had said something that bothered her and she had to ask, "I'm sorry, _Sir_ Elliot Smethwyck? I don't remember you ever being knighted."

Smethwyck waved his hand. "Well, by all rights, I ought to have been knighted, so I went ahead and took the title. No one has corrected me so far." He paused a moment. "Except you, I suppose. But it is of no consequence." He pointed behind Cari. "Pardon me, Miss Cari, but it appears your group is leaving you."

Startled, Cari whipped around to find that the rest of the students really were walking away. "Thanks, Sir Smethwyck!" The painted man grinned as Cari winked before hurrying off. Fortunately, Smethwyck had been paying close enough attention that the group wasn't too far ahead. Cari caught up at the head of the next staircase, just in time to see an older witch clad in black robes and a pointed hat. The man nodded at her as he reached the top of the stairs. "Here they are, Professor McGonagall."

She nodded back with a quiet, "Thank you, Professor Hagrid." The man beamed behind his bushy beard. The woman turned to address the group of students assembled in front of her. "Greetings, students. I am Professor McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts." Cari tuned out much of the welcoming address, having learned much of the information from Ginny on the train ride here. She did pay attention to the professor's description of the houses. She had heard plenty from Ginny, but it would be nice to hear from someone who was a little less biased. "And now, a little about the Sorting process. You will be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. I am the Head of House for Gryffindor." _Hmph,_ Cari thought to herself. _Maybe not as unbiased as I thought she would be_. The witch went on to give a defining trail of each house: Gryffindor was brave, Hufflepuff was hard-working, Ravenclaw was clever, and Slytherin was determined. The professor briefly went over the points system, but Cari's heart nearly stopped when the older woman began to explain Quidditch.

As she spoke, Professor McGonagall's eyes had been traveling among the faces of the new students. When her gaze touched on Cari's face, she paused for a moment while describing the role of the Seeker, then said, "Well, that's probably enough of an explanation for now. If you have any questions about the sport, ask nearly any upperclassman and they should be able to give you an idea of the point system, roles of the team members, and how everything works. If you all are ready, we can go ahead into the Great Hall."

Cari had just a moment to think, _I wonder if she heard about me… or if my face gave me away_. She was completely distracted when four slightly-transparent figures passed through the group – in a few cases, literally _through_. Cari jumped violently, trying to keep all four shapes in view simultaneously. She wasn't the only one who was visibly shaken by the ghosts, but the others seemed to be startled due to the phantoms' sudden appearance rather than what exactly they were. A short, portly ghost glanced back at her and smiled before following the others through the wall. She had already been wracked with nerves, but as she followed the rest of the group into the Great Hall, Cari couldn't stop her hands from trembling. In the end, she crossed them across her cold body, wrapping arms tightly against her middle.

After she took a few steps into the Great Hall, Cari stopped being nervous. In fact, she stopped thinking about herself altogether. It was all she could do to keep moving forward while she gaped openly. The whole hall was warm and inviting, filled with golden light that gave the place a cheery air. There was no ceiling, just an opening that let in the night sky. _That's not right_ , Cari thought. _The moon is in a different phase._ She concluded it must be magic of some kind, an illusion. Just above the tables, burning candles appeared to be suspended in mid-air. Candlelight. That explained why the light looked so yellow-toned. Gradually, Cari realized that the hall was filled with the chatter of excited wizards and witches, who ranged from preteens to seventh-years. When she looked around, her group was walking up a center aisle in the middle of the four long tables. Cari heard her name shouted out and looked over to find a small group of people waving at her from the table furthest to the left. _So that must be the Gryffindor table._

The group stopped at the head of the center aisle, grouping loosely around a stool with an old, beaten-up hat perched on it. Professor McGonagall stood next to the stool with a scroll of parchment held in her hand as the hat sung an odd little song, introducing itself as the Sorting Hat. From what she could read off of the curled-up end of the parchment, Cari assumed that it was a list of student names. Sure enough, Professor McGonagall called up a boy up whose last name began with an 'A', told him to sit on the stool, and placed the hat on his head. Cari winced. Having been unfortunate enough to end up with a bad case of lice as a small child, she hated putting anything on her head which had been previously worn. She had consoled herself with the knowledge that wizards probably knew how to enchant lice off of things when the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The table next to the Gryffindor one burst into cheers and applause as the beaming boy went to sit amongst the students.

McGonagall worked her way down the list and Cari noted that all of the Echowick students were left out. Most likely, they would all be sorted as a group. Eventually, all of the first-years were in their new houses and, without a pause, the professor continued on, starting with the Echowick students in alphabetical order. Out of the other students, three were sorted into Slytherin, three into Ravenclaw, and two in Hufflepuff, including Duncan. Cari didn't know the other students well enough to know for sure, but she was fairly certain that professor McGonagall had just skipped over her. When the second-to-last student, Michael Uttley, was sorted into Ravenclaw (make that _four_ Ravenclaws), McGonagall finally called, "Romana, Licaria."

Cari stepped up, feeling the eyes on her skin, trying to stop the trembling fingers. She turned and sat down on the stool. A second later, the hat was on her head and a voice was speaking right next to her ear: _Ahhh, interesting. Very interesting indeed. Such things inside your head! Cautious, very cautious in everything, that's a Slytherin trait._ Cari felt a flutter of panic run through her stomach. Hadn't Ron warned her not to be sorted into Slytherin? She began thinking very hard about times when she had let her mouth get away from her and the hat gave a low chuckle. _Trying to outwit me, eh? Changing your thoughts doesn't change you, though that kind of thinking is a Ravenclaw specialty._ Ravenclaw? Cari liked the idea of being in a smart house. _Hmm… Ravenclaw is possible, yes, very possible, except… Yes, I see that you want to be placed with your fellows from Echowick. Very proud of your school, aren't you? That kind of loyalty does well in Hufflepuff._ Cari fought not to react. The Hufflepuffs had seemed very nice, but she didn't know if she would want to be around Duncan now that he was acting so hostile.

The hat spoke again: _No, that doesn't quite fit. I can see your memories of the events at Platform 9 ¾. Brave, so brave. And very protective of your friend. Maybe Gryffindor is the path you should take._ Cari gasped. Gryffindor? She didn't want to be in Gryffindor. She wasn't brave in the least, and boldness seemed more like recklessness to her. She closed her eyes and thought very nice things about all of the other houses. Even if she didn't get to be in Ravenclaw, either of the other houses would be better than Gryffindor. _No, no. You don't get to choose your destiny. It has been laid out for you long ago. I think you're destined to be a lion. Maroon and gold, through and through._ At this point, Cari was ninety-percent certain the hat was teasing her, but the other ten-percent led to a place she didn't wish to go. _Yes, something tells me you would be best in-_ GRYFFINDOR!" Cari winced at the loud shout, then popped her eyes open as she heard cheering. Sure enough, it was coming from the Gryffindor table. She looked over, wide-eyed, at Professor McGonagall.

The older witch raised the Sorting Hat off of Cari's head with one hand and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder with the other. "Welcome to Gryffindor, Miss Romana. I'm sure you will find you have many friends there." She gave a comforting smile and gently pushed Cari over in the direction of the correct table.

As Cari approached her new house, she felt strange. Her knees were numb and she couldn't seem to focus on any one face, despite most of the faces being friendly. Finally, one person swam into focus: Ginny looked deeply concerned, scooting over to make a spot for Cari. "Hey, you look like you need to sit down." The red-headed girl pulled gently on Cari's robes until she had settled into the space. "Is everything okay? You were sitting up there for a while."

Before Cari had to think up an answer, an odd hush fell on the room. Professor Dumbledore was beginning to speak. "Good evening, students, and welcome to Hogwarts." Once again, Cari tuned out the announcements that seemed standard, having discussed most of them with Ginny, though she did pay attention to the introductions of the new Defense teacher - a tired-looking man named Remus Lupin - and the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid. The cheers from the second introduction were nearly enough to deafen Cari, especially since the loudest ones were coming from the Gryffindor table.

Soon enough, though, Dumbledore came to a more specific announcement. "Some of you who are returning may have noticed our new group of witches and wizards. This year, we are participating in a cultural exchange with Echowick, one of the American schools. There are ten students who will be attending Hogwarts this year, ranging from second- to sixth-years. We encourage you to get to know them and include them in your school lives. It should be an enriching experience for all involved." That being covered, the Headmaster moved on to other general information before wrapping up his speech and inviting them to enjoy their dinner.

Food appeared along the middle of the long table. Students began grabbing food, eating as they talked in an attempt to catch up as quickly as possible after the summer break. In the resulting roar of sound, it was easy for Cari to remain silent. Ginny's time was soon divided between eating, watching Harry, pretending not to watch Harry, and chatting to the handful of young men competing for her attention. As talented as she was at multitasking, she just wasn't quite up to continuing her interrogation of Cari.

For her part, Cari sat at her spot at the Gryffindor table, slowly shredding a dinner roll between her nervous fingers. The young witch used her peripheral vision to eat a miniscule amount of bread any time she saw anyone looking in her direction. A plan began to form in her mind: maybe she could ask to be re-sorted! The hat had been very sarcastic – flippant, even – and surely neither Professor McGonagall nor the Headmaster would force her to stay somewhere she was uncomfortable. She would just have to find a way to get someone's attention- Cari's train of thought was abruptly cut off when a thick slice of chicken landed unceremoniously on her plate, shortly followed by a large scoop of mashed potatoes. Still half stuck in her own thoughts, Cari could only stare at the food for a moment.

When she finally looked up, she had to glance around for a bit before realizing that the twins were watching her, the barest of smiles on both of their faces. She quirked an eyebrow and they simultaneously pointed to her plate, motioning for her to eat. Cari shook her head. "No, thank you. I already had some chicken and it filled me up. I'm probably good until dessert."

Fred and George exchanged glances. "Cari…" George tutted, shaking his head in mock disappointment, "Honestly, you should know better than to lie to us by now."

"'By now'? How exactly should I know better? I've known you for less than twelve hours." Cari made sure that confusion was the only expression showing on her face. A few months with Kat had taught her that she showed guilt far too easily.

Laughing, Fred wagged a finger at her. "Ah, ah! You can't distract us. You've eaten three and a half scraps of bread over the whole dinner and pretended to drink from your mug twice." Cari opened her mouth to deny his assessment, but he cut her off. "You forgot to put anything in it. If you're going to try to outsmart us, you'll need to work a little harder."

Cari couldn't help but grin. "Noted. I'll do better next time." Conceding defeat, she cut the smallest possible slice of chicken and followed it up with a miniscule scoop of the mashed potatoes. Her stomach grumbled angrily and Cari sighed, rubbing it through her robes. Her nerves were getting the better of her. She pushed the plate away and looked around the table until she spotted a small pitcher of ice water. Making a somewhat sarcastic face at the still-watchful twins, she filled her glass for the first time. Taking small sips of the cool, bland liquid settled her jumpy body, but her appetite was still nonexistent.

Knowing it was only a matter of time before the twins tried to bully her into eating more, Cari allowed her face to fall into her hands, elbows propped on the table. She knew that displayed horrifically poor table manners, but somehow, she didn't think the Gryffindors would mind too much. A gentle touch on her arm had Cari turning slightly to the left, where she found Hermione sitting. The younger witch smiled reassuringly as she leaned in to speak in a soft tone, "I know this all seems a little overwhelming, but it's almost over. Professor Dumbledore is getting ready to make his opening address and then he'll dismiss us back to our own dormitories. There, everything will settle down and give you some room to think."

Cari's heart overflowed with gratitude. "Thank you, Hermione. That's actually very helpful and I'll keep it in mind." She offered an effort-filled smile to the brown-haired girl, who smiled in return before patting Cari on the shoulder and returning to her own seat.

Dumbledore stood in front of the head table and addressed the student body, releasing them to return to their dormitories. Just before he finished the speech, he added, "Would the Echowick students please remain in the Great Hall? You will be accompanying me to my office where we will go over some general information about the year." With that, he closed out the speech and the student body rose as one to leave the hall.

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Author's Note \- Ahh, a chapter of appropriate length. Nice change, wasn't it? I wonder what Dumbledore has to say? As usual, sorry for the late post. Real life is making an effort to intrude and it's getting harder to fight off. Special thanks to RebelliousPrince for being my one and only reviewer for the last chapter! I'm glad you like the twins! They're my favorites and will probably feature in the story quite a bit, as will Ginny. (I agree completely about her depth as a character and the relatively poor treatment she got!)

As usual, thanks for reading, have a great day, and I'll see you all on Monday!


	59. Dumbledore's Office

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related materials. I own only those elements in this story which are original and I make no money from writing or publishing this fic. It's just for fun!

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Dumbledore's Office

Prefects from each house began shouting for their first-years, attempting to gather them into leadable groups before transporting them through the insanely crowded entryways. As the Great Hall slowly emptied of students, Cari noticed that her end of the Gryffindor table was still oddly full. Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and the boy who had been bullied by Malfoy - who she'd later found out was named Neville - were standing awkwardly around, glancing at each other and her. Cari had never been the most patient of people when it came to situations like this and, clapping her hands down on her thighs with a tension-breaking _slap_ , she stood up. "Well, I better go find some of my fellow students. Guess I'll see you guys."

Harry smiled. "Well, technically, I guess we're all your fellow students now. But see you back in the common room, yeah?"

Hermione shook her head. "Make sure you get someone to show you where it is, okay? It's nearly impossible to give directions and actually have someone find it. And I'll wait outside for you. Otherwise, you won't be able to get past the portrait."

"Portrait?" Cari tried to act like she had some brain cells, but she was still functioning on a different time zone and Hogwarts was already making her head spin. She waved a hand, cutting off the incoming flood of explanations. "You know what? I'll just take your word for it. Thanks, Hermione." Cari smiled at her new friend as she left the group, walking toward the area where the Echowick students had huddled loosely. From their glares, Cari assumed she wasn't welcome to join them, so she stood behind the group and off to one side, examining her fingernails carefully.

Professor McGonagall strode over toward them. "Echowick students! Professor Dumbledore had a situation which required his assistance, so I will be escorting you to his office and he will join us as soon as he can. If you'll follow me?"

Without any further instructions, she turned and swept out of the Great Hall, cutting a wide swath through the remaining students. If Cari had any further questions about the Head of her new House, they would have been answered purely by watching the students react to McGonagall's presence. Once again, Cari brought up the back of the group, but Professor McGonagall set a pace that didn't allow for any chats with portraits. In fact, the pace didn't quite allow for Cari to even figure out where they were or how they had gotten there. It seemed that they had gone up a lot of staircases, but down quite a few others. The group had turned more corners than she could count, and she swore they had done a large loop to double back around into a room they had already been through, but wasn't confident enough to ask.

It seemed like they had been walking forever by the time they finally came to a halt. Cari had to peer around the other students to find where they had stopped and saw only a statue of a gargoyle. What was going on? Professor McGonagall confidently stepped closer to the statue, muttered something, and then rocked back slightly as the gargoyle jumped to the side and the wall began to split open. A stone staircase was revealed, but just as Cari began to lament at the thought of climbing another set of stairs, Professor McGonagall stood on the bottom step and the whole staircase began to move like an escalator. Exchanging looks of delight, the Echowick students quickly followed.

As the rest of the students ascended the stairs, Cari examined the back of the statue. She knew this world depended on magic - and had experienced and performed some of her own - but at times, she still expected to turn a corner and find that everything she had seen so far had been elaborately rigged to play a prank on her. Of course, since she was in her fourth year, it would be more of a psychotic mind game than a prank, but that was irrelevant. There was nothing on the back of the statue.

While her head was leaned down next to the statue, Cari swore she could hear a tune. Was the statue… humming? Surely not. And yet, the sound was growing steadily louder. "Oh, hello. Miss Romana, is it?"

Cari whipped around to find a dreamy-eyed Professor Dumbledore ambling up the hallway. He stopped in front of the gargoyle statue. "Y-Yes, sir. Professor Dumbledore, sir." For a wild moment, she seriously considered curtsying. Fortunately, her common sense kicked in powerfully and told her that would be ridiculous.

Dumbledore only gave her a curious look before patting the gargoyle. "You know, I have long been considering giving this statue a name. I think 'Filbert' would be nice. He looks like a Filbert. He disagrees, however. He says it sounds too much like Filius Flitwick's name. Personally, I think that would be another benefit, but he is adamant about being unique."

Cari waited for there to be more, but Dumbledore finished his rambling story and merely stood there, blinking peaceful eyes at her. "Uh… Professor McGonagall is waiting upstairs with the Echowick students." The Headmaster's eyes sharpened intently and Cari hastened to correct herself without getting into trouble, "That is, with the _other_ Echowick students. I was just… just… well, I was lingering to take a closer look at, uh, Filbert."

Dumbledore's eyes softened back to their previous distracted state as he said, "Ah. In that case, let's go meet them, shall we?" As Cari wordlessly followed him up the staircase, she had an epiphany: most people have masks they hide behind. Some people have a blank expression they use to cover their feelings, others use anger or happiness. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, it would seem, used a preoccupied demeanor to disguise his brilliance, and Cari had to admit that he played the part extraordinarily well. She had already almost underestimated him, and she fully knew he was likely the most powerful wizard of their time.

They reached the top of the curved marble staircase. Professor Dumbledore wandered into the room, calling the attention of the Echowick students. He began to reiterate certain parts of his earlier address to the first-years, and since this would be making up the fourth time she was hearing this, Cari took the opportunity to study the Headmaster's office. It was a large round room, lit by an assortment of candles and lamps. Cari supposed there were pieces of furniture around the room, but she couldn't verify their existence as they were completely obscured by books. Cari was a book lover, but she tended to keep her books on a shelf rather than the floor. Or the windowsill. Or in piles against the walls.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat sharply and Cari brought her attention back to the Headmaster, who was warning them to stay away from the Forbidden Forest. Disregarding the obvious nature of this statement, Dumbledore gave a lot of good advice. He handed out their schedules, gave them a general idea of where the major classrooms were, and tried to describe how best to navigate the staircases, though this was mostly lost on the Echowick natives.

Professor Dumbledore turned to look at a strange clock with far too many hands. He must have been able to discern some information, because he raised his wand, made a few gestures, and tapped the fireplace. After a moment, there was a whooshing noise and the flames in the fireplace burned green. A tall, slender form stepped gracefully into the room and Headmistress Fleet was regarding them with a slight smile in her eyes. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall greeted her warmly and she responded in kind, seeming more at ease than Cari had ever seen her.

After the educators had chatted for a few minutes, Fleet turned to the students. "Hello, everyone. I trust the Sorting went well. Where was everyone placed?" Fleet listened intently, tucking a thick strand of her dark hair behind her ear as the Echowick students rattled off their new houses. When it came to Cari's turn, she looked at the floor and mumbled, "Gryffindor." Then, realizing that this may be her best chance, she looked up at her Headmistress and the two Hogwarts staff members. "Is there any way I could be re-Sorted?"

There was a beat of pure silence as she looked from face to face. Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore looked startled while Headmistress Fleet merely looked inquiring. Though she wasn't looking for the approval of her schoolmates, Cari could see a few of their faces in her line of sight. Some looked vaguely sympathetic, but most appeared to be dismayed at the idea of her joining their houses. Fleet looked to Dumbledore. "Headmaster, is there anything else you need from the other students this evening?"

Picking up on her lead, Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Headmistress, there is not." He directed his bright blue gaze to the Echowick students. "You may all retire for the evening. There should be representatives waiting outside to lead you to your respective dorms, where your belongings will be waiting. There is one extra room per dormitory allotted for you. The choice is yours on whether you would rather the room only be for Echowick students or to be open to Hogwarts students of your house. I wish you all a good evening and welcome you to Hogwarts."

Moving all as one group, the students made their way over to the staircase and descended. When they could hear the grating noise of Filbert moving back into place, Headmaster Dumbledore cleared his throat and led them over to his desk. "Let us sit down." There was an awkward moment before Dumbledore levitated several stacks of books across the room, revealing three chairs. They sat.

Professor McGonagall turned to Cari, her intelligent gaze probing. "Now, Miss Romana, why do you wish to be sorted out of Gryffindor?"

The phrasing threw Cari off. It wasn't that she necessarily wanted to be out of Gryffindor. It was more that she truly didn't feel like she belonged there. However, that explanation would only result in assurances that she could excel in any of the Houses. Cari really didn't want to sit through a speech about embracing new experiences and giving the unknown a chance, so she went with the explanation that would make more logical sense: "Well, this is my first time being away from home. I mean, I've attended Echowick for the past few years, but I grew up nearby and my father works around the school. Now, I'm in another country for the first time ever, I'm in a completely different school, I don't have any support system, and now I'm the only one who was Sorted into Gryffindor! I just want to be in one of the other Houses so that I can be around my fellow Echowick students."

Dumbledore appeared thoughtful. "In the strictest sense of the word, I do not know if any of you are considered Echowick students anymore. For this year, at least, you are all Hogwarts students. Perhaps it would benefit you to be somewhere new and exploring being on your own."

Professor McGonagall cut in, "Besides, it isn't as though you can't have contact with the other houses. You'll see them at school functions, in the library, in classes, and you may eat with them at meals. In fact, we encourage our students to pursue inter-House friendships to bolster a sense of school spirit and unity."

Cari stared into the fireplace, mind whirring as it flicked through all the potential arguments she could make and whether any would be effective in changing the minds of the administrators. Those gears ground to a halt as Fleet said, "Miss Romana, I set it up so that you would be Sorted into Gryffindor." There was a pause as the Headmaster and Professor each stared questioningly at Fleet, though Cari sensed their gazes seemed more of the _why are you telling her_ variety rather than _what are you talking about_. "Well," Fleet amended, "Not Gryffindor, specifically. I suppose I should start off by saying that you were skipped over during the Sorting Ceremony on purpose. You see, the other students we selected to participate in this exchange are all ones who display a certain defining trait, one which makes it clear which House they would belong to. You, however, are a special case. You possess the work ethic of a Hufflepuff, the clever mind of a Ravenclaw, the natural leadership of a Slytherin, and the fierce protective nature of a Gryffindor."

Fleet looked as though she had delivered an epiphany, but Cari still didn't understand. She stared at her Headmistress, allowing the confusion to fill her expression and Fleet sighed, continuing, "I wanted Echowick to be represented in each of the Houses, and I was concerned that wasn't going to happen. I contacted Headmaster Dumbledore and he gave me permission to speak with the Sorting Hat, who agreed with my agenda. We left you until last so that you could be Sorted into whichever House didn't have an Echowick member."

In a flash, Cari understood how much effort had been put into Fleet's scheme, and knew in the same millisecond that the woman wouldn't allow that energy to have been wasted. Cari was going to stay in Gryffindor, but she couldn't help but to make one final appeal. "I both understand and respect the dedication to your plan, Headmistress Fleet, but I just don't think I'm going to do very well separated from my fellow students. Is there any chance – any chance at all – that you would be willing to reconsider?"

Cari could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Fleet looking anything other than fully confident, but this was one of those times. The Headmistress of Echowick looked utterly uncomfortable, and the source of this discomfort was apparent when she said, "Cari… I don't wish to be cruel here, but I feel that extreme bluntness is necessary. This must be perfectly understood: You are not the type of student we usually consider to participate in these types of exchange. Don't misunderstand! You are certainly clever enough and you easily qualify grade-wise, but you are not the most outgoing student at Echowick and those who are more extroverted are traditionally considered first. Again, I'm not trying to be cruel, but I also must remind you that your parentage has resulted in your magic being relatively weak. No, you aren't the typical exchange student, but I had to remove you from Echowick – for your own safety. Now, the others chosen on this program are fair enough people, and I don't believe they would attempt to harm you, but you aren't anyone's favorite person right now."

A look of pain flashed across Cari's face, hard as she tried to fight it back and Fleet walked over to pull her into a rare embrace, releasing her quickly. "I'm so sorry, Cari. I swear to you that I'm not trying to be needlessly callous, but I just have to say that, in my personal opinion, I wouldn't put forth too much effort to spend time with other Echowick students this year. Give the trauma time to fade, for them and for yourself. I have the utmost confidence in you, and I know you will do wonderfully at Hogwarts. Please, give Gryffindor a chance. I've heard rumors that you already have friends there, and I know it will not take long for you to gain even more." She looked down at her watch and patted Cari on the shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I must be getting back to Echowick now." Fleet walked over to Dumbledore and McGonagall. "Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this evening. Let me know if there is any way I can help to make this year run as smoothly as possible."

She tossed a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace, but the flames burned an odd gray as a low noise echoed through the room, very similar to a large bell tolling. Fleet looked around before smiling wryly at Cari. "Miss Romana, if you would please step backward approximately three steps?" Cari complied and the tolling noise faded as the flames turned to their rightful green. Fleet stepped in and disappeared.

* * *

Author's Note \- So... another short chapter. I'm sorry! Also, I didn't set out with the intention of making Fleet a Slytherin, but that's kind of what I ended up with. Poor Cari. Every time she thinks things are going back to normal, someone reminds her that they can't. Also, some things in this chapter might not make a lot of sense now, but give it until Thursday. This was one of those times I had to either post an awkwardly-short chapter followed by a regular chapter, or one that was nearly 9,000 words. Thanks in advance for being understanding! Now, to the reviews:

ghostcrab311: Thank you SO much for the tip! I'm usually very meticulous about the grammar in my stories, and I'm super embarrassed that I missed that. I fixed it as soon as I read it over and thanks again for both the review and the advice! :)

RebelliousPrince: Unfortunately, since Hogwarts is a school in the more traditional sense rather than a technical school, there is no equivalent for Echowick Broomsmith classes (not that Cari would have much interest in them at this point anyway). You brought up a lot of things that will be addressed in upcoming chapters, so I won't say too much here, but I will go ahead and tell you that Cari is going to have a very special relationship with Divination...

As usual, thank you for reading! I would adore a review if you have a moment (and, as stated above, any advice about grammar and technical stuff that I missed is more than welcome)! Have a wonderful day, and thank you for your continued patience as I work on getting my updates out a little earlier in the day.


	60. Gryffindor

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, plots, characters, etc. These are the sole property of J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Gryffindor

Cari turned her questioning gaze to the two Hogwarts staff members. Before she could ask about the odd noise from the Floo, Professor Dumbledore smiled. "My dear, your genetic signature must be very similar to that of your Aunt Kat. She very nearly caused an international incident here several years ago. Now, whenever the full-body Floo networks are open to outsiders, no one with your particular genes may be within a certain distance of the fireplace. My apologies." He gave a short bow in her direction.

Professor McGonagall gently guided Cari over to the head of the staircase, saying, "I've arranged for someone to lead you to Gryffindor Tower. They'll tell you all about the ins and outs of Gryffindor, including the passwords."

Cari had partially descended the staircase when Professor Dumbledore appeared at the top. "Miss Romana?" When Cari looked up at her new Headmaster, the older man smiled, eyes twinkling kindly. "Just because you are not the usual type of student to be here does not mean that you are not the very type _meant_ to be here. I do hope you understand that. Good evening." He retreated back into his office, leaving Cari to descend the rest of the staircase, turning his words over in her mind.

Focused deeply on the encouragement of the Headmaster, Cari had walked out of the office and tripped over something left on the floor. She managed to catch herself before she landed on the ground, but it certainly was not an elegant move. She whipped around and found a boy sitting on the ground, looking almost as startled as she was. "Neville! I am so sorry! I guess I was thinking too hard and I didn't even see you. Are you okay?"

Neville laughed good-naturedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Lived through much worse." He sobered for a moment before standing and adopting an overly professional manner. "Miss Romana, I have been requested to introduce you to the locations, customs, and qualities of the Most Noble House of Gryffindor." They both chuckled and Neville returned to his previously relaxed manner. "Anyway, Professor McGonagall asked me to give you the condensed version of 'Introduction to Gryffindor'. I had a lot of trouble trying to get around during my first year, so I learned a lot about where certain places are and aren't. Fortunately, we're already on the right floor for Gryffindor, so we don't need to climb a lot of staircases." Cari couldn't help but look relieved.

The younger boy stuck out his elbow chivalrously. "Shall we head over to the common room, Miss Romana?"

Cari smiled. He seemed like a good kid and maybe she would start the year with at least one friend who hadn't been coerced by her aunt. "Yes, we shall, as long as you agree to call me Cari. 'Romana' carries a bit of a stigma, you know?" Before he could offer a polite protest, Cari threaded her arm through the crook of his elbow and they started to walk. They had only gone a short distance when a noise made Cari whip her head toward Neville. Sure enough, a squat little toad sat perched on the boy's shoulder. She reached her other hand around to gently touch the toad on the head. "And who is this little guy?" she crooned.

Neville didn't look directly at Cari, but she could see the faint red tinge on his cheeks. "That's Trevor. He was a present from my Uncle Algie for getting into Hogwarts. Gran- that is, my grandmother told me that I should keep him with me, that way I would always have a friend." Cari thought that over and Neville said sharply, "Not that he's my only friend. I do have friends, you know?"

Partially to soothe his anger and partially because she knew he was truly a good kid, Cari said, "Of course you do. I'm not surprised. I don't think anyone else would have been half as nice to me today, especially after having to wait so long outside the Headmaster's Office. Thank you for that, by the way. You don't know how much it means to me."

The boy glanced quickly at her and then looked away. Softly, he said, "I think it means about as much as you telling Malfoy not to mess with me at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Not many people are willing to stand up to him, much less for someone like me." Cari opened her mouth to ask what the last part of his statement meant, but he sent her a sidelong glance and smiled. "Anyway, let's get you to the common room, yeah?"

True to his word, Neville didn't lead her up or down any staircases, but it was still a fair walk to the Gryffindor Tower entrance. Along the way, Neville pointed out various entrances, which apparently led to alternate routes for several of the main classrooms, although the descriptions were extremely confusing and Cari couldn't quite follow along.

Soon enough, they had made their way to an odd section of a hallway, standing in front of a large painting of a heavy-set woman. Neville gestured to the woman. "Cari, this is the… Uh…" he leaned in and whispered the word ' _fat'_ close to her ear before saying at a normal volume: "Lady. She's our Lady, and she carefully and vigilantly guards our common room." The woman in the painting waved agreeably at Cari as Neville did his best to explain the password system to her.

"But what if I can't remember the password?" Cari asked nervously. Her memory wasn't the best, and if the passwords changed once a week, it would be a miracle if she ended up remembering more than two or three.

Neville shrugged. "Coming from someone who forgets passwords upwards of ten times every year, there's always someone around who knows the password and doesn't mind telling you what it is. Gryffindors look out for Gryffindors. And besides, around here, there's always someone leaving or coming back into the common room, so you can either walk in with a group or wait for someone to leave and ask them. Don't worry about it."

He gave the current password, _Fortuna Major_ , to the Fat Lady and the picture swung forward off of the wall as if it were on a hinge. In the gap of blank wall between all of the other pictures, there was a large, circular hole. Cari grinned slightly, thoughts of Bilbo Baggins springing to mind, as she walked into her new common room.

It was very red. It was also packed with students, so she couldn't see a lot. From what she could make out, the furniture ran heavily to solid wooden desks and slightly mismatched red armchairs and couches. There was a large fireplace that took up quite a bit of one wall, but there was mercifully no fire in it. The room was warm to the point of stuffy with all of the people packed inside, especially since they all seemed to be talking and laughing. It was a rather claustrophobic atmosphere and Cari fought the urge to turn around and walk back out. A pat on her hand made her look to Neville, who guided her over to the foot of a staircase on one side of the large room. He leaned in to speak so that she could hear him say, "This is the staircase that leads up to the girl's dormitories. Professor McGonagall told me that there's a room for you in there, but I can't take you up there. The staircase is enchanted to turn into a slide if a boy tries to get into the girls' dorms." Cari must have had an odd look on her face, because Neville blushed fiercely and stammered, "Not that I've ever- It's never happened to me! I've just seen too many idiots try."

Cari nodded and stood on her toes so that she could be heard by the younger Gryffindor. "Thank you for the tour, Neville. It's been a great introduction, and I feel a lot more comfortable now. Would you happen to know if my bag is already up in my room?"

Neville shook his head. "I'm sorry; no one's told me whether it'll be there or not. Hang on! I see Hermione over by the fireplace. I'll go ask her; she always knows everything that goes on around here. I'll be right back."

He was halfway across the room before Cari fully realized that he was leaving. Utterly uncomfortable, she located an unoccupied armchair in a corner of the room and quickly sat, slouching down and crossing her hands over her stomach. Hopefully, no one would notice her, Neville would come back, and she could retreat to her new room to think things over and enjoy a little bit of quiet time while she still had the chance. Sighing, she snuggled deeper into the armchair and felt her eyelids droop a bit. It had been a very long day…

Unexpectedly, the back of the chair dropped out from below her as the chair dipped backward. Instantly on edge and surfing a major wave of adrenaline, Cari slammed herself backward in the chair, causing the whole thing to topple down onto the ground. She used the momentum to lift and twist her lower body, extending a leg and hooking her foot around the ankle of her attacker. With one short jerk, there was another body on the ground and Cari had launched herself to her feet, ready for whatever came next, self-defense lessons from Kat swirling their way through her brain and muscle memory. George Weasley stepped back, arms out in front of his torso. He was laughing, as was Fred, who was lying on the floor. "Sorry, sorry! We didn't mean to scare you!" From the floor, Fred ground out between chuckles, "We saw you falling asleep and wanted to make sure you stayed awake!"

Instantly mortified, Cari looked around to see if anyone had noticed her freaking out, but the chaos in the common room had mostly disguised the incident. The few people who had noticed seemed to find it more funny than weird. One girl clapped for Cari, saying, "Way to go, new girl! We've all wanted to do that a time or two over the years."

Fred, who was now standing, sent a mock glare over at the girl who had spoken. "Shut it, Bell." She grinned, sketched a salute to Cari, and walked over to join a crowd who had started a game of Exploding Snap. Fred was rubbing a spot on the side of his hip, likely where it had connected with the hard floor.

Cari winced. "I'm really sorry, Fred. I don't know what happened, but I never meant to spazz out that badly. Are you okay?"

Fred waved her off. "Nah, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. Truth be told, George and I were planning on messing with you, so I can't be too upset. Guess I should just be glad you weren't more awake or I might really be hurt." He winked and Cari shook her head, fighting back a grin.

"Cari? Is everything okay?" Hermione was quickly approaching, a worried look on her expressive face. Ginny trailed behind her, but she looked more amused than concerned. Obviously, both of the girls had seen the events of the last few minutes.

Sighing, Cari raked her fingers through her hair. The gesture mussed the curls, giving her hair even more of a 'mad scientist' vibe, but she felt a little better. She smiled sheepishly at the two Gryffindor witches. "Yeah, everything is fine. It's just been… well, it's been a long day. By the way, do either of you know if my suitcase has been delivered?"

Ginny laughed. "Well, there's kind of a funny story about that. It was sent here as the suitcase, and I tucked it under one of the armchairs for safekeeping. You're the only who can get into the room Dumbledore added for you, by the way." Cari nodded, waving for Ginny to continue when the girl appeared to be getting sidetracked. "Anyway, the armchair was sadly occupied when the enchantment wore off…" Cari's eyes widened after a quick check of the small gap between the floor and the bottom of the armchairs scattered around the common room. Ginny's smile widened to a grin as she nodded and gestured to a boy who was standing awkwardly in the corner. "Oh, yeah. The kid is still kind of edgy. He's convinced that Fred and George jinxed him. He's a little paranoid, but it's entertaining."

Cari rubbed her eyes. She really didn't need this. "So, where is my trunk now? And where is my room? I think I've taken about as much of today as possible."

Hermione gestured over to the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories. "I tucked it under the staircase so it wouldn't be tripped over or used as a footstool. And your room is upstairs, as an addition to the fourth year girls' dorms. Ginny and I will take you there as soon as you're ready, and we'll help you transport your trunks. It's, ah, quite a bit heavier now." She trailed off, studying Cari intently. "I don't wish to pry, but may I ask what Dumbledore wanted?"

Cari shrugged. "Nothing too important, really. He was just giving us a little more information about the school, advice on how to get around, and he gave us our schedules. I haven't really looked at mine, to be honest. Our Headmistress from Echowick used the Floo Network to come here and ask how everything had gone and where everyone had been Sorted."

Hermione's gaze remained shrewd. She didn't miss much, Cari would assume. "Still not trying to be nosy, but it sounds like a rather short meeting for how late it is now. Did anything else happen?"

Now it was Cari's turn to contemplate her new House-mate. The girl didn't seem to be malicious, but apparently reading people wasn't Cari's best thing… _Ah, well. It's not like they won't hear tomorrow, considering how the Echowick gossips are._ She cleared her throat and admitted, "Well, I took a little longer to leave because I asked to be re-Sorted."

"What?!" The question seemed to explode from those around her. Hermione, Ginny, the twins, and even Neville seemed shocked and taken aback.

Cari shrugged again, looking at the carpet, which turned out to be conveniently colorful and intricate in design. "I don't mean to insult you guys, but Gryffindor wasn't exactly where I wanted to end up. I don't belong and I just wanted to see if they would be willing to let me talk to the Sorting Hat one more time." A peek up revealed that the Hogwarts students were still regarding her with confusion on their faces. "It doesn't matter now. They turned me down, so it looks like I'm here to stay."

Ginny gripped Cari's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Cari, you belong here. The Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes, and even if it did, Dumbledore would never be too proud to fix it if there was a real issue. Besides, you have friends here already!"

Warmed by the younger girl's kind words, Cari decided that it wasn't her place to tell about Fleet's arrangement with the Hat. She gave a half-smile and merely said, "I guess we'll see." Deciding to shut down any following commentary on her feelings, she said, "If you guys don't mind, I really do need to get some sleep. I'm still on American time, you know?"

Snapping into perfect host mode, Hermione said, "Of course! Here, Ginny will show you where your room is upstairs while I enchant your trunk to follow us. Goodnight, boys." Neville, Fred, and George bid them goodnight as the witches ascended the curving staircase. Cari chucked Trevor under the chin and said goodnight to him as well before she left.

They climbed what Cari felt to be a truly unnecessary number of stairs. The only thing that saved the trip from being the worst few minutes of Cari's life was the fact that her trunk was levitated instead of needing to be carried. The company may have had something to do with it, too. As the trio scaled the spiraling staircase, Ginny kept up a steady stream of loud complaints about her dorm-mates. Hermione listened sympathetically, periodically adding an anecdote about the trials in her dorm. For the most part, Cari was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to hear much of what anyone else was saying.

Finally, they stopped in front of a door and Ginny stepped to the side. "You have to open it, Cari. It's spelled to your magical signature and the handle will only turn for you."

Cari stepped forward, took a deep breath, and pushed in. The room was a decently large, circular room. Narrow windows were set in the thick walls, leaving only a small pane of glass squeezed between the heavy stones. It appeared the windows would open, which was a definite plus in Cari's book. Five four-poster beds were placed in a sort of spoke pattern around the room, each with a cabinet next to the head of it. Other than the beds, the room was rather empty. Cari walked over to the bed set directly across from the door and sat down on the edge of it.

For some reason, the sight of the extra beds was extremely depressing. The image just hit her in the right way to make her feel even more acutely lonely. She had nothing here, and no one. Perhaps her request for a re-Sorting hadn't been sheer invented nonsense, after all. But Fleet had a point: no one from her school really wanted to be around her right now. Honestly, she couldn't really blame them. She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "Ughhh… Why do I always have to be alone?"

"Well…" Cari looked over at Ginny and instantly regretted her rash words. She had meant 'alone' in a broader sense, but judging by the sudden gleam in Ginny's eyes, there was nothing to be done about it now. "Since you're so desperate for someone to stay here, Hermione and I will go get our trunks and be back here relatively soon. Just write our names down on that piece of parchment," she said, gesturing to a blank scroll nailed to the wall by the door. Now that she was looking at it, Cari could see the word 'Occupants' written neatly at the top of the paper.

Ginny bustled out of the door and Cari cast a desperate look at Hermione, who merely shrugged. "You said you feel like you don't belong here. What better way to start to belong than to have two tried-and-true Gryffindors as roommates? Plus, you already know both of us." Cari must have still looked unconvinced, because Hermione went on. "I'm always in the library, and Ginny is on the Quidditch pitch more often than not, so you'll basically be living alone except for the odd night that we all decide to do something."

In her head, Cari had already agreed to this, but only vocalized her question about an earlier point. "Ginny is on the Quidditch pitch? Why?"

Hermione looked chagrined. "I actually wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that, but you'll find out soon enough. Surely you've noticed that Ginny has a little crush on Harry?" Cari gave a slight smile and nodded. "Well, Ginny's got a knack for flying, so she decided the best way to get Harry's attention was to practice and try out for the Quidditch team. The more she practiced, the better she got, and the more she started to appreciate the game. Now, she has a real passion for it. I think it's her way of blowing off steam."

There was an odd noise and someone outside the room let out a yelp. Ginny's angry voice cut through the wood a moment later. "Cari! I told you to add me to the stupid parchment so the door will stop shocking me!" Fighting back a full-fledged grin, Cari let her new roommate into the room. She held the door as not one, but two trunks floated in. "I went ahead and got your trunk, Hermione. My thighs are feeling it, too." She rubbed her leg in exaggerated pain as the other two girls rolled their eyes and giggled at her antics.

"Cari, if you'll show us your schedule, we can help you figure out where everything is," Hermione offered kindly.

"Oh! I was actually just worrying about that," Cari admitted. "It looks… different… from the ones we have at Echowick." She quickly located the slip of paper and handed it to the younger girls.

Hermione glanced at it and launched into explanations. "This is the way we do things at Hogwarts: You'll have three classes a day, each lasting approximately an hour and a half. You have half an hour between classes to allow for travel time. Classes start at nine in the morning, lunch is from one to two in the afternoon, and your last class ends at three-thirty or so. Breakfast is from seven to nine and dinner is five to seven. Everyone has one day a week that's different. On that day – Friday for you, you'll have an emphasis on the four main classes: Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, and Potions. Classes are still an hour and a half, and you still have lunch, so classes won't end until five thirty. And, of course, your Astronomy class takes place at night, so yours will be…" Hermione consulted the page, "Wednesday night. Make sense?" Cari nodded, though the scheduling would take some getting used to. Mollified, Hermione and Ginny began to discuss the rest of Cari's classes.

"Okay, so History of Magic first thing. That's rough." "Yeah, but at least it's on the first floor. Plenty of time to get there from breakfast." "Herbology III? Maybe she'll be placed with Harry, Ron, and I!" "Good, she'll have someone to sit with, at least. I never did."

Tired as she was, Cari was content to sit quietly and listen to the girls dissect her schedule. They tried explaining to her multiple times about the best way to get from floor to floor, but ended up writing down all of their instructions on the back of the paper. They wouldn't get their schedules until the next morning at breakfast, and then they would be able to know for certain if they had any intersecting classes. The schedule was handed back to Cari, who began packing it away as the other two began having a conversation about their fellow Hogwarts students. It started off fairly standard ('Oh, so-and-so looks different'), but the topic quickly shifted to which of the male students had filled out nicely over the summer and who had gotten better-looking.

With a start, Cari realized that this was probably considered girl talk. She had done her best to avoid any overly-girly topics with Lydia, but there had been a few conversations over the years that fit the bill. If only Lydia could be here and talk to these girls! She would get along well with Hermione, Cari felt, and absolutely adore Ginny. Of course, Lydia wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Cari at the moment. _I wonder what Lydia's doing now... Maybe she has a new roommate. Maybe Kimber moved in and they'll be friends now that I'm not around._ Feeling awkward again, Cari walked over to the parchment stuck by the door and leaned in, writing 'Hermione' and 'Ginny' as neatly as she could, pausing for a moment before deciding to add her own name as well, necessary or not.

She made her way back to her bed and began digging through her trunk, trying to keep out of the line of fire between the other two. Cari ended up grabbing her pajamas and retreating into the small in-room bathroom to change, completely missing the concerned looks Hermione and Ginny were sending each other at her abrupt exit. By the time she emerged, having changed and brushed her teeth, the conversation had switched once again, this time to what seemed to be bets on the antics of Ginny's older brothers.

Gesticulating wildly, Ginny cried, "I _know_ you think Fred and George are the irresponsible ones - and they kind of are, I'll give you that – but I think the next one to do something crazy is going to be Ron. Have you looked at his eyes lately? There a lot of crazy brewing in there, just waiting for a chance to pop out!"

Hermione adamantly shook her head. "You're wrong! Ron may let his frustration get the most of him sometimes, but he almost never does anything dramatic enough to get in trouble. The twins, however… they thrive on that attention and risk, and that's going to be why they get in trouble next!" Glancing over, Hermione seemed to notice her re-entry to the room. "Oh, hey Cari. We know you're tired and we are as well. Give us a minute to change and we can shut off the lights."

Cari nodded, stifling a yawn. It had been an extraordinarily long day and she was grateful her new roommates weren't going to try to keep her awake any longer. But for now… She clambered up onto the high, four-poster bed, snuggled under the sheets, and rested her head on the pillow. She didn't hear a sound for the rest of the night.

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Author's Note \- Okay, so here's a _really_ long chapter to make up for all of the weirdness of the last two weeks. I think things should be back to normal now (on chapter-length; everything else is still up-in-the-air), but we'll have to see. I still need to move some chapters around before I can say anything for sure. Anyway, Cari doesn't feel right in Gryffindor! Oh, no! Hopefully, there's something other than Fleet's conversation with the Sorting Hat to place her with the Lions. (Just saying, I'm not one-hundred percent sure anyone can convince the Sorting Hat to lie about anything...) Also, I hope the description of the class schedules makes sense. I mapped everything out and it's the only way I could make everything work given what we know about who is where and when in the books. Even that was confusing, so I'm just going to leave this alone. Reviews!

RebelliousPrince: Thanks! I started trying to describe Hogwarts in more depth, but I realized that, to a first-time student, it would be just a mass of rooms and halls instead of anything that would make logical sense. I'm also glad the short chapter didn't bother you much. I'll try not to do too many!

2lazy2login: I know! ...But maybe not really, since I'm a Slytherin... whoops! But still, have pride in who you are! I'm sure this chapter didn't make things any easier for you, but hopefully, Cari will come to her senses soon!

Thanks to the two who reviewed (so much rhyming, sorry, it's definitely not on purpose) and I hope to hear back about any comments, questions, etc. from anyone for this chapter. Thanks for reading and I hope you all have an absolutely fantastic day!


	61. First Day: Year Four

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, plots, etc. These all belong to J.K. Rowling alone. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

First Day: Year Four

It felt as though Cari had just shut her eyes when she felt her bed being shaken. Not her body, but her entire _bed_. It was too strange to ignore, and she sat up to find that Ginny had wrapped her hands around one of the bedposts and was shaking it for all she was worth. "What are you _doing_?" she cried, still half-groggy.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Ginny seemed unperturbed by Cari's rough tone.

Now that she was completely woken up, Cari noticed that Ginny was fully dressed, shoes and all. The younger girl's neatly-combed hair shone in the light streaming in through the windows. Cari's heart thudded painfully in her chest. "What time is it?!"

Ginny waved her hands, gesturing for Cari to calm down. "It's not that late. Hermione always leaves really early on the first day of classes so she can get her schedule. And I'm always hungry, so I try to get to breakfast decently early. If you want to get ready, we can walk down to the Great Hall together."

Cari had to consider this for longer than was pretty. One the one hand, if Ginny left, she could sleep a little while longer. On the other, if she got lost on her way to the Great Hall, she would never live it down. Heaving a sigh and casting a longing look back at her bed, Cari stood up. "Give me just a few minutes and I'll be ready."

Fortunately, she could be true to her word. Since Hogwarts students had to wear a specific uniform, which covered by robes, there was no need to choose an outfit. Cari simply retrieved the topmost uniform from her suitcase - it having magically altered to take on Gryffindor's colors after she had been sorted - and put it on. The makeup was what took her the longest, but since she could use magic, it wasn't truly time-consuming. In less than ten minutes, she was ready to go, though by Ginny's impatient expression, one would think the red-headed witch had been waiting hours.

Cari moved to grab her robes from her bed, but Ginny stopped her before she could fully put them on. "No, no. After this morning, you'll have to wear robes down to breakfast, but it's tradition that you don't have to wear today until you actually go to class." With an air of demonstration, she strung her robes through the crook of her elbow and walked out of the room, taking a moment to check her reflection in the mirror by the door. Cari followed the younger witch's lead.

They navigated the staircase and exited the portrait, but after the fourth staircase, Cari tired of tripping over the long robes. She just did not have Ginny's long legs. She tossed the robes over her shoulder, where they hung high enough for her not to step on them constantly. Ginny turned to say something, caught sight of the robes on her shoulder and laughed, shaking her head and saying, "Yeah, okay. Whatever works." They kept moving at a fairly fast pace, but the trip from Gryffindor Tower down to the Great Hall still took nearly fifteen minutes. Cari made a mental note to triple check that she had everything she needed before leaving the room. There would be no quick trips back up to grab anything she had forgotten to pack.

By the time they reached the Entrance Hall, Cari had finally recognized where they were. She ended up trailing Ginny into the Great Hall, following her to the Gryffindor table, where nearly every student was poring over the new schedules. Disinterested and with a stomach beginning to knot up with nerves again, Cari flopped down in the seat next to Ginny. She idly listened to Harry and Ron discuss their classes before starting on Hermione, who appeared to have been drastically overscheduled.

Her attention was drawn by the sound of a throat being sharply cleared and she looked across the table to find Fred and George looking at her. Fred raised an eyebrow expectantly while George pointed down at her empty plate. Cari grimaced at them, saying, "Okay, Mom." She deliberated for a moment, eventually choosing a slight variation on her dinner from the night before: a glass of water and a single piece of toast. She ignored the exasperated sighs from the other side of the table and nibbled at the toast. Around her, the Gryffindors were being their typically loud and excitable selves. At least, this seemed typical to Cari from what she had seen so far.

Cari saw movement from the corner of her eye. Students were beginning to leave the Great Hall. Not many, but Cari would rather be early to a class than late. The clock on the wall said there were about twenty-five minutes until classes started, so she took one last drink of her water, stood, and picked up her bag and robes. At the odd looks of her House-mates, Cari shrugged and said, "Class starts soon. I want to go get a good seat."

George coughed, " _Swot!_ " into his fist while Fred grinned, but Hermione stood as well. "It's going to take us a while to get to the Divination classroom. It's at the top of the North Tower. Cari, the History of Magic classroom is on our way. Want to walk with us?"

"Sure," Cari replied. She followed the three out of the Great Hall. One flight of marble steps later and she was standing in front of the door to a classroom. Next to the door, a small brushed-metal sign stated that Professor Cuthbert Binns was the teacher. "Good luck," Ron said in a doubtful tone. "Be sure to watch when Binns walks in, it'll be the most interesting thing he does all class."

Cari frowned. "I've heard a lot about this class being horrible. Is it really that boring?"

Harry shrugged. "The class itself really isn't that boring. Sometimes, Muggle history and Wizarding history sync up and that's pretty interesting. It's just Binns himself who can be a little dull. Some of us have a theory that he literally bored himself to death."

"Wait, 'literally'?" Surely you don't mean…"

Hermione gave her an odd look. "Cari, you know that Professor Binns is a ghost, right?" At Cari's aghast face, she hurriedly added, "He's a very normal-looking ghost, no bloodstains or any such thing. We have a lot of ghosts, but he's the only ghost professor at Hogwarts."

Shivering, Cari shook her head. "Ghosts! I don't know if I can actually pay attention to a ghost teacher. Why do you guys have ghosts here, anyway? It's creepy! "

Hermione started to launch into a detailed explanation including many excerpts from _Hogwarts: A History_ , but Ron and Harry dragged her off before she got much further than 'webs of magic that ensnare the spirits of particularly influential and vivacious witches and wizards'. She called an apology and a promise to finish the explanation over her shoulder. Cari waved and laughed as both boys shook their heads slowly at Hermione's passion for knowledge.

Taking a deep breath, Cari entered the classroom. She was the first one there. Taking advantage of this, she chose a seat in the back of the classroom, taking care to don her robes before sitting down. This was where she preferred to be anyway, but knowing that Professor Binns was a disembodied soul just gave her confirmation that the seat was the right one for her. She did choose a chair in the middle of the back row, however, to give herself an excellent view of the chalkboard. She was determined to learn at least a little in this class, regardless of any other factors.

It only took a few minutes for students to begin filtering into the room. Cari did note that most of those who were entering were sporting Ravenclaw colors. Though they had a reputation for being snobbish, one couldn't deny that they took their studies seriously. Most of the students took seats near the front of the classroom, immediately unpacking quills, large squares of parchment, and plenty of ink. Around the five-minute mark, the Gryffindors began to arrive, taking up the back half of the classroom. They were rambunctious and disorganized, preferring to talk to each other rather than prepare for the class. Shrinking in her chair, Cari started to regret her choice of seat.

Before any Ravenclaws could get too irritated, the Professor swept into the room – through the blackboard. _So that's what Ron meant about his entrance being interesting..._ Cari mused. Professor Binns being a ghost was still jarring to her, but it had an interesting effect: the adrenaline was flowing, which sharpened her wits. Binns didn't waste any time with introductions or discussions of what would happen in the class, instead launching right into the earliest history known to wizard-kind.

Cari thoroughly enjoyed the class, to her shock. She had never liked the 'getting to know you' first class of a semester and with her adrenaline-filled system and her hyper-aware brain, she was processing Binns' lecture and learning things that she had never heard before. The Ravenclaws seemed interested as well, some even creating in-depth outlines as the Professor lectured. Cari couldn't quite match that level of dedication, but she did write down several of Binns' key points. Of course, she was the only Gryffindor taking notes. More than one of the others was dozing off, heads on the table and all.

Before she knew it, Professor Binns abruptly cut off his description of the earliest wizarding war (all over what the newly-formed society should call itself) and walked back through the chalkboard. Cari glanced around in confusion, but no one else appeared to be fazed. There was a flutter of movement as the students began packing up their belongings and exiting the classroom. Cari rolled up her parchment and stuffed it into her bag. She had to hurry if she was going to get to the greenhouses before Herbology started without her.

Darting between the groups of students (seriously, did they have nowhere else to be?), Cari rushed down the stairs, through the Entrance Hall, out through one of the side doors, and had no idea where to go from there. Trying her best not to swear, Cari looked around. She thought for sure Ginny had said the greenhouses were in this direction. She wandered outward from the castle, trying to see around it to find where the Herbology 'classrooms' were. Eventually, she walked around the edge of a tower and found the greenhouses were only a short distance across the grass. There were three of them. Her schedule listed 'Greenhouse #2' as the location of the class, so she guessed that the middle one would have to be the correct one. Walking briskly, she burst through the door.

"Hey, Cari! Over here!"

The jumble of voices threw Cari off momentarily, and she had to search for a moment before seeing Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville waving at her from one side of the greenhouse. Smiling gratefully at them, she walked over. The greenhouse had several long tables, each made of rough slabs of wood. Stools lined the sides of each table, but they had enough space behind them to be pushed back and the tables were the right height to be stood at. A neat collection of terra cotta pots lined the end of one table. Perhaps they contained the work of the students from the last class?

She had just claimed the stool between Harry and Hermione when Professor Sprout strode into the room. She stood at the end of the greenhouse, pacing between the ends of the tables as she spoke. "Hello students, and welcome to Herbology III. As you have no doubt noticed, this class is made up of both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students. And if you have paid any attention to your schedules, you will notice that this class meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This is because you're going to be growing plants that will take a while to mature, even with the assistance of magic. Now, we've got quite a bit of work that needs to be done today, so we should get started immediately."

Professor Sprout instructed the students to retrieve one pot, a small bag of soil, and one of the vials filled with vibrant orange liquid from the shelves on the back wall. The students bustled to do what she said, especially the Hufflepuff students. As Cari and the little group settled back into their seats, they began to fill the pots with soil as the Professor had instructed them. Neville, who was seated on the other side of the table, stopped Cari with an outstretched arm. "No, hang on a second. You're packing the soil too tight. You'll have to give the seeds room to breathe." Cari tried again, digging her fingers through the loam to loosen it before tamping it down less firmly than before. Neville stopped her once again. "No, let the earth just settle in there, don't push it down."

Cari pulled the soil up again, this time allowing it to just sit instead of trying to arrange it at all. She eyed Neville. "So, I'm guessing you're a Herbology genius?"

Neville flushed a deep red as Hermione shone with pride in her friend. "Yes, Neville has quite a gift with plants! No one can beat his marks in Herbology, not even me. And Professor Sprout treats him like he's a member of her own House-"

Ron snorted. "Yeah, we'll need that. Sprout always plays favorites with her own House – they all do. Dunno how we got the bad luck to be in Herbology with Hufflepuff this year. Last year, she gave me a zero on almost every project she assigned, and that's when we were with the Slytherins!"

Sprout clapped Ron on the shoulder, giving a hearty laugh. "That's because you always forgot to add the magic ingredient: Water. Turns out, all living things need it. Who would've thought, right?" The Gryffindors sat, wide-eyed and ready to be sternly lectured, but Sprout merely smiled at them as she handed each of them a single, shriveled, dark green seed. "Here, students. Put them in the pots, cover them with about two centimeters of soil, and wait for my instructions."

"Sure you don't want us to _water_ them?" Ron muttered sarcastically under his breath.

A small dirt clod hit the back of his head, exploding into a cloud of dust and the greenhouse filled with laughter, Ron eventually joining in. When Professor Sprout had made the rounds, she circled back to the front of the room. "Okay, assuming you all have properly planted your seeds, you'll then dispense the whole vial into the soil. You will need to put about one drop per square centimeter of soil, then put the rest in drops into the soil directly over the seed. Before you start, however, has anyone figured out what we're planting?"

Several of the Hufflepuff students raised their hands, but Neville was the one she called on. He didn't seem at all like his usual hesitant self when he said, "I believe we're planting Centaury plants, Professor."

Professor Sprout beamed at him. "Correct, Mr. Longbottom. Five points to Gryffindor! Yes, we're planting Centaury today, though each one of you has a different variety. All are used for medicinal purposes as they possess strong healing properties. Dried Centaury leaves are the main ingredient in the powder used to heal the bite of a mad dog."

Cari noted that Harry's head whipped over to stare intently at Professor Sprout, but she didn't seem to notice, instead moving on to describe other uses for Centaury leaves. When she had finished the lecture, she gave them the okay to begin dripping the orange liquid into the soil. Cari did her best, but even Harry leaned over to say, "Er, Cari. Not to be rude, but do you even know what a square centimeter is?"

Sighing, Cari shook her head. "No, actually. I'm American, so the whole 'centimeter' thing is a little bit of a loose concept for me. How badly am I messing this up?"

From behind Cari's right shoulder, Professor Sprout said, "Well, it won't be a healthy plant, but if you skip the rest of the soil and just focus on dropping the solution onto the seed, it'll survive. That is really the important part for an introductory project." Cari looked over her shoulder to thank the Professor, who was now regarding her with open curiosity. "I don't believe I know you. Your name is?"

Extending a hand, Cari said, "I'm Cari Romana, one of the students from Echowick. It's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry: I'm not very good with plants."

Tilting her head to the side slightly, Professor Sprout asked, "Cari? And what is Cari short for?"

"A normal human height?" Ron pitched in as Harry and Neville laughed. Hermione hit Ron in the arm and Cari rolled her eyes.

"This kid's got jokes," she said, jerking a thumb in the red-head's direction. Professor Sprout smilingly shook her head as Cari went on. "Cari is short for Licaria. My dad's a bit of a nature buff."

Face thoughtful, Sprout mused, "Name of a tree, father appreciative of nature, but you aren't good with plants… My dear girl, you must have some frightful things in your past. Do you know what you're going to do after graduation?"

Taken aback by the sudden switch in conversation, Cari's mind went blank. "Uh, I don't really have anything solid planned yet. Can I ask why that's important?"

Studying Cari's face, the teacher explained, "Sometimes, plants sense when they're going to be used for a person's own purposes. Most plants will have a natural aversion to crafters of magically-enhanced books or wand-smiths." It was close enough to Cari's original career plan that a wave of shock mixed with slight fear went over her face before she could stop it. Sprout's eyes became understanding, but she simply said, "Ah." Without another word, she turned and walked away, leaving Cari to deal with the questions of her little group.

Fortunately, class had almost drawn to a close and the others had to finish up their solution-dripping so that their newly potted seeds could be labeled and tidily grouped at the end of a table. When the others tried to ask questions, Cari simply redirected the conversation to lunch, speculating on what kind of food they may find waiting there. Ron, especially, seemed to take well to the subject switch, bemoaning his excruciatingly empty stomach while the others rolled their eyes mockingly most of the way back to the main castle.

Walking through the doors of the Great Hall, the smell of food hit Cari like a physical blow and she was suddenly, excruciatingly, aware that she hadn't eaten real food for the past 24 hours. And that was only if one considered waffles 'real food'. Ravenous, she found a seat, grabbing a sandwich and a glass of iced tea.

As she ate, she listened to Harry and Ron talk about their Care of Magical Creatures class. Apparently, it was just after lunch and would be the first class he ever taught. The boys seemed more excited than she had seen them for any class so far, but that was setting the bar pretty low. Eventually, Ron looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Hermione?"

How had she not noticed Hermione was missing? Cari looked around as well, knowing how stupid of a gesture it was, but unable to help herself. Unexpectedly, George spoke up. "We passed her in the hallway on our way here. She said something about running back to the Tower for something she had forgotten this morning. Isn't that right, Fred?" With his mouth full, Fred could hardly answer, but nodded to confirm his brother's information.

Sure enough, Hermione entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. As she took a seat, Harry asked, "Did you find it?"

Looking from Harry to the other members of the group, Hermione seemed utterly bewildered. "I'm sorry; did I find what, exactly?"

Fred laughed. "Scatter-brained this morning, aren't you, Granger? Remember, you told Fred and I that you had forgotten something in the Tower and had to go back. You said to tell everyone you'd be a little late for lunch."

Hermione nodded. "Oh. Yes, I had forgotten I spoke to you two. Yes, I just had to go back for some extra parchment." Cari didn't know the younger girl well, but it didn't seem as though Hermione was acting like her usual self. Some of Cari's skepticism must have shown on her face, because Hermione quickly explained, "I like to take extensive notes on the first day of classes. Sets you up for the rest of the term, you know? I always run out of parchment by the end of the day, though, and I decided I would bring extra this year. I must have left the Tower in too much of a hurry this morning, I suppose." She cut off her own rambling explanation by taking a large gulp of pumpkin juice and eating voraciously.

Cari looked at her own plate. Her sandwich was mostly gone and she had drunk nearly half of the iced tea. Her stomach was happy, but when she considered seconds, it shot her with what could only be considered a warning. Cari pushed away the plate and settled back into her seat, pulling out her schedule more for distraction than anything else. She had basically memorized the schedule after looking at it so many times that day. In a split second, the paper was whipped from her fingers and Cari could only stare as Fred settled back into his seat.

The twins looked over the schedule, discussing her classes much as Ginny and Hermione had the night before. "Ugh, class with Snape next? Good luck." "And tomorrow? Not much better." "But hey, look at the day after that. And the next one!" They looked at her with matching evil smiles. "Guess who you'll have class with?" They said, simultaneously.

Hermione grabbed the schedule from them. "Wait, you have classes with a fourth-year? What did you do this time?"

George sighed, rolling his eyes. "We didn't do anything wrong, Granger. We've never had any real interest in Care of Magical Creatures-"

"Doesn't quite match up with our plans for the future," Fred chimed in.

Nodding to his brother's comment, George continued. "But, since Hagrid is teaching this year, we wanted to take the class to support him. McGonagall said that we didn't know enough to start at our year's level, which means having class with the fourth-years."

"And as for Defense Against the Dark Arts," Fred explained, "No one learned anything from that idiot Lockhart last year." Cari saw Hermione's face redden and made a mental note to ask about that later, but for now, Fred was still talking. "It doesn't matter much for the younger kids. You don't actually learn too much in the first two or three years of DADA, but a lot of the upper years had to be rearranged so that we could be sure to pass OWLs and NEWTs. Hence," he made a _voila_ gesture, "the classes."

The group bickered back and forth for a while, and it took almost the rest of their lunch hour for Cari to realize that the teasing form of fighting was one of the ways Gryffindor students showed their affection. As the start time for her Potions class drew nearer and nearer, Cari got more and more antsy. She knew the class took place in the dungeons, but since she still didn't know her way around that well… At about twenty minutes to the class start time, she stood and gathered her things. Despite the snickering from the twins, she got a quick set of directions from Hermione and headed off to find the classroom.

She walked through a stone doorway leading off from the Entrance Hall. From there, it was just a short trip down a flight of stone stairs and a few turns following a hallway and she came to the Potions dungeon. For once, she wasn't the first person in the classroom. Several students had already chosen seats and were busy setting up their cauldrons, books open beside them. The teacher, who had been pointed out to her at the Opening Feast as Professor Snape, was there as well. He glanced at her before turning dismissively back to his writing, but Cari sensed that he was keeping a close eye on the students.

Having taken three years of Potions before, Cari knew what to look for when choosing a seat. And yes, shockingly, it was an important decision. Every table had a built-in heating device for the cauldrons, but each heating system was different. Some were sensitive, others were not. Some had to be lit in a certain way or even multiple times. Fortunately, Cari had a system: look for the heating element with the most tarnishes and smudges. A proper cauldron heating system meant a fair bit of ash build-up if it heated quickly enough. And if it stayed lit, that ash baked on, creating a dull, almost spotted appearance. Walking through the open seats, Cari found what she considered to be the perfect spot. It was off to the right side of the room in the middle.

Setting her things down, Cari heard laughing and whispers coming from the students in the back of the classroom and couldn't help but tense. Had she done something wrong already? This was why she usually chose a seat in the back, so that no one was behind her to make her feel as though they could see every mistake she made. Noiselessly enough that she jumped, Professor Snape appeared beside her work table. Leaning down, he said quietly, "I don't know if you were aware of this, but you are sitting on the side of the classroom typically occupied by Slytherin students."

Cari, brought up to have a sense of respect for elders and authority figures, made eye contact with the teacher. Remembering that he was Head of House for Slytherin, she made sure not to sound belligerent as she said, "I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't aware of that. Would you like me to move?"

He seemed taken aback for a moment before giving her the barest ghost of a smile. "Not necessarily. I was just under the impression that no self-respecting Gryffindor would wish to be surrounded by 'snakes' from the House of Slytherin."

Feeling slightly disloyal to her new House, Cari shrugged. "Can't say I'm quite as Gryffindor as the rest of them, then. If it really makes no difference to you, sir, I would very much like to stay in this spot."

Professor Snape inclined his head and swept back to his desk. Cari fought back a smile as she began to set up her cauldron. Already, it seemed as though Snape's bad reputation was at least partially undeserved, as was to be expected for a stern teacher in a school filled with teenagers - although she suspected the professor would rather be thought of as evil than a nice man.

When the rest of the students filtered into the dungeon, Cari noticed that the Gryffindors did indeed stay on the left side of the classroom. The few who did sit on the right only did so because those were the only seats open when they walked in. There was noise in the cool, cavernous room, but only the rustle of bags opening, the scraping of cauldrons being settled, the fluttering of books being leafed through. There was no talking.

Professor Snape abruptly rose from the seat behind his desk and his sardonic voice cut through the nearly silent air. "Students. This is Potions. Due to some… _incidents_ over the past few years, I must take attendance to make sure that no one has gotten _lost_." He stared at the class as a whole, his raised eyebrow and curled lip displaying his scorn for the unnecessary coddling. Cari took a moment to be grateful for her tendency for being overly early as the Professor began taking roll.

As he called each name, Professor Snape paused for just a moment to hear a response before moving on. He worked steadily down the list in this way, until he reached Cari's name. "Licaria… Romana…" He stopped, searching the room as Cari gave an awkward half-wave, half-hand raise. Trying not to blush, she cleared her throat and said, "Present." Snape gave her a brief nod before rapidly finishing up his list. Apparently everyone was in attendance, as he continued straight on into his lesson.

Like some of her Echowick teachers would do, Professor Snape was using the first day of class to give a brief introduction of the material they would be covering throughout the year, as well as to recap the lessons given over the past three years. It was a lot of material, and Snape set a punishing pace. By the end of the hour, Cari's hand ached and she had used almost twice as much parchment as she had intended. Just before they left the dungeon, the Professor assigned them reading to be finished before the next class. He was the first teacher to assign homework so far, but Cari had a feeling she had some catching up to do, anyway.

At the very end of the class, a girl - obviously Slytherin - burst into the dungeon. Her squashed-looking face was red and she was gulping down air. Standing just inside the door, she panted a moment as they all stared at her. When she caught sight of Snape, she shrieked, "Professor! Professor, the most horrible thing has happened!"

Obviously disgusted by the girl's outburst, Snape strode over, grabbed her elbow, and escorted her into his office at the back of the dungeon. The class was completely silent, but they could hear nothing from inside the small room. Professor Snape was clearly intelligent enough to put a silencing spell of some kind on his door. It didn't truly matter, however, as they had re-emerged after only a few minutes had passed.

On his way to the door, Snape tersely decreed, "Class dismissed." He disappeared through the door and around the corner, black cloak billowing behind him. The girl with the scrunched-up face was following at his heels, trotting slightly to keep up with his pace.

* * *

Author's Note \- Um, I was so excited to write about Hogwarts that I may have gone a little overboard on the first day. Overboard as in, it's going to be multiple chapters long. But only three, so there's that. Thank you for your patience!

RebelliousPrince - Thanks, I'm glad you liked the inclusion of Neville and Trevor! I've always really enjoyed Neville's character arc from awkward kid to confident and capable adult, so I wanted to explore that transition a little more than is usually done. As for Cari's feelings about the Sorting, it partially stems from their faults (can be slightly obnoxious, not very studious, etc), but she has to take time to explore their strengths!

On that note, I would like to remind everyone that I'm trying to be very fair about the Houses. I want to represent each one equally, with both faults and strengths in play. Not every Gryffindor will be a thrill-seeking natural sportsman and not every Slytherin will be evil, etc. Just a warning if you were gearing up for hatred against any one of the Houses! Not happening. Anyway! Thanks for reading, drop a review, and I'll see you next Monday!


	62. A Little Bit Of Fun

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related characters, plots, settings, etc. These all belong to J.K. Rowling and I make no money from writing or publishing this story.

* * *

A Little Bit Of Fun

The shocked class sat for a moment in silence before they began to put away their things and leave the dungeons. The Gryffindor students seemed utterly unconcerned, other than bemoaning that the interruption hadn't come earlier. The Slytherin students, on the other hand, were talking back and forth in voices that tried not to sound worried.

"What do you think happened?"

"I dunno, but it had to be something bad if Parkinson was that upset."

"Eh, Parkinson nothing. She'll cry over anything if it'll get her some attention. I'm worried because I've never seen Snape move that fast."

"True. Besides, he never dismisses class early."

As she jogged up the stairs, Cari's mind was engrossed in Potions. She had never been good at the subject, even back at Echowick, so she had her work cut out. Besides that, what had happened that could be so important that a student would interrupt a class? It had to be something to do with a Slytherin student. Otherwise, why would Snape have been informed?

Once she was back in the Entrance Hall, Cari stopped to remove her outer robes before leaning against a wall for a moment. I _don't know how Hogwarts students walk around in these all day! So much heavier than the Echowick robes. Of course, it may help during the winters up here..._

Cari had homework to do, but didn't especially relish going back to the Gryffindor common room or to the room she was sharing with Hermione and Ginny. She really needed quiet to focus and try to soak up more of the material before her next Potions class.

It was apparent that wasn't going to happen when a loud voice drawled, "Hey, look who it is!" Two ginger heads popped into Cari's line of sight. "Come on, Romana. We've got an important task and we'll need your help."

Cari shook her head. "Sorry, I actually have an important task of my own." The two gave her an odd look and she held up the piece of parchment with her Potions assignment written on it. "Actually, since I have you here, do either of you know a place I can sit down that's not the Great Hall or the common room?" They continued to stare and she added, "Or the library. That would probably be really crowded today." The twins still didn't respond and Cari nervously chattered on. "I figured since I have some time between now and dinner, I would go ahead and start on some homework. Professor Snape gave us a bit of reading to do and some questions to answer, so if I can just find a table and chair, I can get to wo-"

She was finally cut off by a gagging sound from George. When he was done, he said, "Seriously? You get out of your first day of classes-

"Early, mind you!" Fred interrupted.

"-and you want to go do homework? _Potions_ homework?!"

"Well, if you're going to have a spazz attack, I guess I could just go back to the Tower. Maybe change or take a nap or something. I'll just go to the library later on…"

Fred looked outraged. "No! You cannot do this! We've graciously ignored you leaving to get to every class early-"

Cari cut in to indignantly repeat, " _Graciously?_ You've called me names every time!"

He ignored her completely. "But now, your only two choices are to sit alone doing _Potions_ homework or take a nap? No. You have to have at least a little bit of fun at Hogwarts. Come on, George. We need to stage an intervention now, before it's too late and we lose her to the light side."

Cari frowned. "Wait, so you two see yourselves as the Empire?" The twins stared at her blankly and a horrifying realization dawned on her. "Have either of you even seen 'Star Wars'?"

George turned to Fred. "Wars between stars? Is she having hallucinations?"

Fred shook his head in wonder. "Dunno, but I bet Trelawney is going to love her."

Utterly floored, Cari could only gape as she realized that the twins had missed out on what was likely the greatest movie series of all time. They had begun walking away when they realized she wasn't following. Heaving a burdened sigh, Fred turned around and marched back. Putting a hand behind her shoulder, he propelled her toward George, who was waiting a short distance away. Rolling his eyes in agreement with his brother behind her, George shook his head. "Come on, Romana. Keep up."

They took off in front of her before Cari could even ask where they were going and why she was supposed to be coming along. She stayed still for a moment, but ended up shrugging and following them. They seemed like they knew where they were going, and she would have plenty of time to do homework later on that night.

Jogging, Cari caught up with the retreating backs of the twins, but trailed a few feet behind. They didn't seem to notice, chatting back and forth about some planned pranks. Cari listened carefully, mentally noting where and when these pranks were going to take place. With any luck, she could stay far away and avoid being an unwilling part of them.

Eventually, they wound their way down below the first floor, though the area looked nothing like the cool, dank chill of the Potions dungeons. Instead, the heavy, roughly-cut stone blocks of the walls and floor somehow managed to convey a sense of coziness and warmth. Cari studied the halls. Were they getting narrower? It felt like they were burrowing down into the earth instead of walking through the basement of a school. They came to a stop in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. The subject was common enough to be a joke in itself, but it had to be the largest painting of its kind Cari had ever seen.

Stretching up on his toes, George extended his arm and wiggled his fingers against a large green pear. It began to shudder back and forth, but he continued the motion. It wasn't until a shrill giggle came from the painting that Cari realized he was _tickling_ the pear, which turned into an oddly-shaped green doorknob. George turned it and the painting swung open.

Somehow, Cari was ushered through the doorway first. She forgot to scowl at the twins, however, because she was too busy gawking around the room. The ceiling soared overhead, giving the room a cavernous feel. It- it actually looked a lot like the Great Hall, now that Cari thought about it, complete with the long tables. The similarity stopped after that, however. The room had no windows or enchanted ceiling, but had enough lighting so that it didn't seem gloomy or stuffy. There were dishes, pots, and pans everywhere, all made of shining brass. Three of the five tables were cleaned off and spotless, but the others had small creatures bustling all around, clearing trays and platters of the food that had been available at lunch. They were quickly carrying the dirty dishware to the back of the area, where there was a room with a fireplace, sinks, and a full industrial-style kitchen.

"What… what is going on?" It wasn't quite the question Cari had meant to ask, but the twins seemed to know what she had meant, sauntering up to stand on her either side to watch the activity just as she did.

Giving a grand gesture obviously meant to encompass the whole room, Fred stated, "This is the kitchen." Fred pointed to the long tables. "Those match up with the tables in the Great Hall. The workers - house elves, by the way, in case you aren't familiar - prepare the food down here and it is magically sent to the tables up above. When we're done, all of the leftover food, including crumbs and dropped bits, is sent down here to be disposed of and the dishes cleaned."

"We're here," George explained, "because there's a giant squid in the lake and we've been trying to feed him for… Fred, how long have we been trying to give him food?"

Fred appeared thoughtful. "Let's see. We're in our fifth year, so… since our first day."

George nodded. "But he always just appears, pokes at the food, and disappears again."

Cari frowned. "Is it possible he's just waiting until you go away or it sinks? Maybe he doesn't want to eat when you guys and anyone who happens to be outside are staring at him."

After looking concerned for a moment, Fred shook his head. "Nah. I think it's probably that we haven't found what he likes to eat yet. But we've only got two more years, and so far, he's been kind of a tool about liking anything. We have to take this opportunity to cross different foods off the list."

One of the house elves appeared in front of them. He was dressed in what seemed to be two pot holders sewn together. He had several wisps of dark hair on his head, all neatly trimmed and slicked back. His large eyes were a deep, deep brown, nearly black, standing out starkly against his ultra-pale skin. He bowed deeply. "Ah, the Masters Weasley! Are you wanting your crumblys now?" Cari gave the twins an incredulous side-long look at the elf's squeaking question.

The twins looked nervous, but George just shook his head sharply. "Uh, not right now, thanks Ayu. We're going to try to feed the squid again, though."

The elf, apparently named Ayu, looked delighted. "Oh, yes! What are you trying to give to him now?"

Fred listed a few items, ticking them off on his fingers. "Let's try carrot cake, no frosting, a baked potato, and one of the sandwiches we had for lunch." He and George had a silent twin conversation through intense eye contact and slight facial expressions, and Fred turned back to Ayu. "Make it one of the ham sandwiches, okay?"

The elf bowed again before scurrying off into the depths of the kitchen. Cari turned to the twins. "Cake and sandwiches? Why don't you try to feed the squid normal squid food?"

George held up one finger. "First off, there's also going to be a potato. Second, he's a magical squid, so how should we know what 'normal' food for him is?"

It was actually a decent point. "Oh, so you've tried stuff that squids usually eat?"

Fred shrugged. "No, but he probably wouldn't like it anyway. Why go through the trouble?"

Cari didn't know how to respond to that, so she just nodded toward the helpful house elf. "So… Ayu? How do you know him this well? And what are the crumbs for?"

Both twins blushed. Slowly, Fred said, "Well, we need the kitchen for some of our pranks. A number of them, actually. By our second year, we knew most of the house elves, and most them learned to avoid us. Except Ayu, that is."

George took up the explanation, "Ayu is very helpful. We've been trying to make a prankster of him, but he's still hanging on to the rules. We'll get to him."

There was still one question left unanswered. "Ayu? Is there a reason behind the name?"

The twins displayed a rare moment of anger. Tersely, George said, "Ayu belonged to a private master for a while. The master wasn't the kind of person who should be in charge of any living thing and never actually gave him a name or let him pick one out. Ayu was simply referred to as 'hey, you' for most of his life."

Cari understood the anger now. With a vindictive little smirk, Fred finished up. "When the old master died, his son decided that Ayu wouldn't be needed any longer. Fortunately, he was directed to Professor Dumbledore, who offered him a job here immediately. Of course, to work here, a house elf must have a name. Since it was all he'd ever been called, he chose to name himself 'Ayu'."

That was a pretty hard-hitting story, but Cari couldn't think of an appropriate follow-up. She was saved by the arrival of another elf. This one was a female, wearing a black handkerchief wrapped around her like a toga. She eyed the twins nervously. "Masters Weasley. You boys don't be starting trouble in Tricks's kitchen, now?" They looked properly abashed, but that wasn't the elf's main concern. She looked up at Cari. "You is from Echowick?"

Astonished, Cari nodded. The elf nodded with her. "That's what I thought. How do you like Tricks's food? Do the Americans eat different?"

Cari shook her head. "We probably eat about the same things, except Americans probably eat more bacon." She smiled at her own joke, but Tricks merely looked at her inquisitively. Cari cleared her throat. "I mean, the food here is great. You guys are fantastic!"

Tricks' serious face split into a wide smile. "Tricks thanks you, Miss. Is there anything Tricks can get for you?"

George and Fred pushed Cari to the side as they ordered a large assortment of snacks. Tricks listened carefully, nodding, but made sure to ask, "And for you, Miss?"

Debating within herself, Cari remained silent for a moment, but the house elf remained patient, watching her. Finally, Cari asked, somewhat embarrassed, "Do you happen to have any soda here? Sorry, that's probably not a request you get too often."

Tricks' face lit up. "Yes, yes, we do!" she squeaked, high-pitched voice becoming almost unintelligible. "Muggle-borns request the sodies a lot. We have the Coke, the Pepsi, Sprites…" She sounded as though she could list options for a while, but Cari had heard all she needed.

"If you don't mind, I would really love a Coke!" Tricks bowed excitedly and ran off, dodging through the other house elves like a pro.

Though she tried to avoid their gazes, Cari knew Fred and George were both giving her questioning stares. Finally, Fred asked, "Coke?"

Still watching the activity in the kitchen, Cari said dismissively, "It's just a Muggle drink. You wouldn't like it."

"Hang on. What if we want to try it?" The challenge in George's voice was unavoidable.

Sighing as though she had explained this a thousand times in the past, Cari said, "Well, I guess you could try it if you want to, but I've heard most wizards say it tastes like a cross between…" She searched through her mind for two things she had heard others say were truly disgusting and came up with, "between Polyjuice Potion and Skele-Grow."

She knew she had gotten it right when they made revolted faces. As one, they asked, "Why do _you_ like it?"

Cari shrugged, indicating herself. "Muggle-born. We have an acquired taste for it. Most Muggles drink it, so we grew up with it. It's not very good, but it reminds us of home. Obviously, since students apparently ask for it a lot."

Ayu came back, holding out a paper bag that already had grease soaking through the bottom. There had been mayonnaise on the sandwiches at lunch, Cari remembered. "Here you go, Masters Weasley! I hope the Giant Squid likes them!"

"Thanks, Ayu!" "You're the best!" The house elf beamed at the praise, blushing and smoothing his thin strands of hair as he bowed and backed away. Tricks was next, bringing a large picnic basket and thrusting it at the twins.

She held out what looked like a stainless steel travel mug at Cari, who took it hesitantly. The elf beckoned her closer, and when Cari leaned down, Tricks whispered, "I enchant it! The cup fills up when you run out of the Coke. And it never loses the chills or the bubblies. If you want another kind of sodie, bring it back to Tricks and she will change the flavor."

Cari was struck anew at how awesome the wizarding world truly was. Since she was already leaning down, she said, "Tricks, this is great! Can I hug you?"

The elf's eyes grew wide and she nodded wordlessly. Cari reached down and gave her a quick embrace, making sure to let go shortly. She didn't know the protocol concerning house elves, but Tricks' reaction to her question had made her wonder if she was offending the small creature. When Cari pulled back, Tricks was still giving her a flabbergasted stare. She mumbled her thanks as she backed away much as Ayu had. Cari shook her head and said, "No, thank _you_!" which made the elf promptly turn beet red.

The twins had been amusedly watching the exchange. "Now you've done it," George said, entertained.

Cari's shoulder's stiffened. She _knew_ she had offended Tricks. "What exactly did I do wrong? Are you supposed to not touch them?"

Fred lifted an eyebrow. "Well, there's no rule against it, but you've just earned yourself an ultra-loyal house elf." Cari must have looked as confused as she felt, because he explained, "When a house elf feels a connection to a certain person, they'll make sure you're comfortable all the time. _All_ the time. There's a pretty good chance Tricks is going to be your new, slightly-miniature shadow."

Even while she was grimacing sarcastically at the reference to her height, Cari thought about what Fred had just told her. Was she going to regret being nice to the house elf? She looked down at her new, never-emptying cup of Coke. _Probably not_. She just shook her head and said, "Isn't there a squid you two should be feeding?"

Perked up by the thought, the twins turned and rushed out of the kitchen. Waving to Tricks one last time, Cari hurried after them, taking a moment to close the painting behind her. In record time, the group had raced up several staircases, through the Entrance Hall, and out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Relieved that Fred and George were avoiding the steep cliffs on one side of the lake, Cari followed them onto a trail that wound its way around to a large, flat boulder propped just above the surface of the water. The twins strode confidently out onto the rock, but Cari moved a little more cautiously.

Eventually, all three stood on the edge of the boulder, Cari a little further back than the ever-fearless Weasley twins. After a slight debate, they decided that they should try the sandwich first. George held it out over the water, whistling a strange tune. In a hushed tone, Cari asked, "Does the squid come when you whistle like that?"

Giving her a look that suggested she had lost her mind, Fred said, "No. It's the best song from the Weird Sisters's new album. Been stuck in our heads all day. Little paranoid there, Romana?"

Cari couldn't hold back a blush, but stuck her tongue out at the slightly older wizard. He let out a surprised laugh, but rapidly returned his attention to the water when George hissed, "There he is!"

Sure enough, a single, waving tentacle could be seen, still far below the surface. It was soon joined by several others, but the main body of the squid was resting too deep in the dark water. George reached into the bag before tossing a ham sandwich underhand into the lake. It landed directly above the spot where the tentacles were undulating, and the impact made all the limbs jerk slightly before they held completely still. Moving almost imperceptibly, the tentacles caught the sandwich as it began to sink. Layers were pulled apart and prodded, but the squid apparently found nothing he liked. The sandwich was batted off to the side. George looked slightly disappointed, but held the bag of food open for his brother.

Fred reached inside to grab the carrot cake (more like carrot cupcake), sans frosting. He held it over the water just as his twin had before pulling back to launch it into the water. The cake landed in nearly the same spot that the sandwich had, bobbing slightly on the surface. A tentacle rose to poke at the small slab before gripping a minute amount and pulling it down to the depths of the lake. Fred made a sound of triumph and turned a gloating expression to his brother, but Cari snapped her fingers sharply and pointed back at the water. Sure enough, the squid had raised his tentacles enough to push the cake away.

Shrugging, Fred snagged the potato and cocked a fist back to throw it. Just then, George leaned over the water and exclaimed, "Look! He's coming up!" Apparently excited beyond control, Fred hurled the potato into the water. It landed in the same spot as the others, which was unfortunately just above the squid's large, pearly green head. This was unfortunate mostly because a potato, unlike a sandwich or carrot cake, does not float. The potato seemed to shoot straight through the water, colliding with the giant squid's head with an almost audible _clunk_.

Fred and George stared at each other with such completely horrified expressions that Cari had to laugh… At least, until the disappearing squid took a moment to send a huge wave crashing over them. The force was enough to knock them all over, and Cari found herself lying flat on the boulder, suddenly staring at the sky and wondering how on earth she had gotten there. She giggled softly and was surprised to hear the twins laughing as well. They all sat up at the same time, staring smilingly at each other. The twins exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously, both saying in agreement, " _Wicked_."

Shaking her head made Cari's now-dripping hair brush against her neck and she reached up to begin wringing some of the water out. "You two are fifth-years. Any chance you've learned a drying spell or charm?"

George had the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry. We were supposed to learn that one at the end of last year, but we had other things to worry about."

In contrast, Fred didn't look at all repentant. "Besides, if there's ever a situation where someone is suddenly soaking, it's usually because one of our pranks worked perfectly. We didn't see any need to learn something that would only make life easier for someone else."

Cari couldn't help but to roll her eyes, though frankly, she could see Fred's point. George began busily spreading out a section of cloth and then started to set out the large collection of snacks. They both settled down to enjoy the impromptu picnic and gazed questioningly at Cari, who gingerly sat down. The wetness of her clothing immediately soaked through the blanket and her hair dripped into her eyes, but the jokes and laughter of the twins soon had her feeling generally pleasant again.

As she finished a small bag of chips (or 'crisps', as the twins insisted), Cari took a swig of her new bottomless Coke. It was the first time she had drank soda in a while, and the familiar taste hit her mouth in an unexpectedly refreshing burst. It was the perfect temperature, fizzy, and most definitely the best drink of her life. Closing her eyes to savor it, Cari made a resolution to thank Tricks again the next time she saw the small elf.

When Cari opened her eyes again, she was being watched curiously by both George and Fred. "We're starting to think you were lying about that being gross." "Yeah, can we try some?"

She pulled the glass away, trying to nonchalantly set it behind her. "No, it's gross, believe me. You just have to build up a… uh… an immunity." When they didn't look convinced, she stood. "Well, I better go. Potions homework calling, you know." As she reached down to grab the stainless steel cup, Fred reached out and snagged it first.

Fred tipped the cup back, taking a deep swig. He coughed and sputtered, shaking his head back and forth and blinking rapidly, but passed the drink to his twin. George was a little more cautious, taking only a medium-sized sip, but spat it out right away. Cari snatched the small metal mug back, barely managing to keep George from majorly backwashing into her ever-refilling Coke. After it was safely in her grasp, she folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow at the twins.

They looked up at her sheepishly. "All right."

"We suppose we should have believed you."

"But how do you _drink_ that stuff?"

"It was so sweet, and the _bubbles_ …"

Cari shrugged nonchalantly. "Told you, it's an acquired taste. Created by Muggles, after all. I tried to warn you, but you were so sure I was hiding something…"

George rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we get it."

Seeming to be in physical pain, Fred muttered, "Never thought I'd say this, but… go do your Potions homework."

Giving an only slightly-sarcastic salute, Cari grinned at the pair. "Hate to say it, but I kind of enjoyed helping with your super important mission. Thanks for letting me tag along."

Their surprised smiles made the events of the afternoon worthwhile, even more so when she overheard spitting as she walked away, followed shortly by, "Pass the pumpkin juice, you git. I can still taste that awful stuff."

* * *

Author's Note \- Thanks for reading, sorry this is so late in the day. I've been taking care of real life stuff, unfortunately.

Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the slightly more realistic Houses and their expanded traits. And I just disliked writing Sprout like a standard, stuffy-ish kind of professor. To me, she is spring and summer, warmth and playing. Plus, seeming stuck-up or stuffy while gardening just seems like something that would be almost impossible. Thanks for the review!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I'll see you all next Monday!


	63. Winding Down

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own any rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, situations, settings, etc. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing. All rights to _Harry Potter_ belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Winding Down

By the time Cari had reached the Entrance Hall, her clothes had mostly dried. Looking back, she was grateful she had removed the robes before they had a chance to be splashed. With the help of a few kind students, Cari made her way to the library and settled at one of the tables by the section clearly marked: _Potions_. Surprisingly, she zoomed through the reading, even managing to make sense of the obscure and antiquated terms for modern ingredients.

Giving in to her overachieving nature, Cari looked through the chapters the class would cover next and searched the shelves until she found books that discussed the potions in depth. In fact, one of the books she picked out, _A Study of the Essential Modern Potions_ , broke down each potion, giving specific reasons why each ingredient affected the properties of the final product as well as helpful tips on ingredient preparation, optimal heat settings, and more. In short, the book was a gold mine, and Cari found herself writing down most of the information on the potions she would be preparing soon.

Not shockingly, her hand cramped and Cari hissed, setting down a quill and rubbing her hand as she attracted the unwelcome attention of the librarian. The intimidating Madam Pince descended upon Cari's table. "Is there a problem, Miss Romana?"

Cari stared up at the woman for a moment, trying not to ask the obvious 'how do you know my name' line. She took a deep breath, shook her head, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Madam Pince. I didn't mean to disturb anyone, I just got a cramp in my hand."

Pince raised an eyebrow as she leaned down to look at Cari's notes. "While I appreciate your studious nature, Miss Romana, I must inform you that there are copying spells that would make this much easier."

Perking up, Cari asked with a hopeful tone, "Really? Is there any way you would be willing to teach me the spells?"

The librarian drew back, looking highly offended. "Despite what you might think, young lady, I have many things to do and there is much work to be done. I don't have time to teach or to supervise your use of magic. You'll have to talk to a teacher or another student."

Completely by reflex, Cari said, "I'm sorry to hear that there's so much that needs done, Madam Pince. If you have too much going on, please let me know and I'll be happy to help out."

The woman stared disbelievingly at the young witch, as if trying to gauge her sincerity. Eventually, she blinked, turning away as she said, "I have too much work to do to stand here frittering away time with a student." Cari looked back down at the book lying open in front of her, almost missing the librarian mumble, "Though if someone cleared the books off the tables in this area and put them back where they belonged, it would be a big help."

Cari smiled down at her notes. The woman may be proud, but she seemed to have a lot of things on her plate. Cari closed _Essential Modern Potions_ and gathered her notes, placing her bag on the table where she could keep an eye on it as she moved around the space. Fortunately, though there were a lot of books on the tables in the Potions section, they all belonged on the nearby shelves rather than anywhere else in the expansive room. It took less than fifteen minutes to clear all the tables and put the books in their proper places. Cari was only sidetracked once by a rather intriguing title on a shelf and decided to check it out as well.

Glancing at the clock, Cari saw that she had less than an hour to get to the Great Hall for dinner. Grabbing her things, she walked over to the front desk. Madam Pince watched her approach and met her there. She nodded as Cari handed her the books. The librarian held up the potions book.. "Taking this with you, I see?"

Cari smiled. "Yep! It had so much great information. I think I know someone who can teach me that copying spell you were talking about. Thanks for that, by the way!" Pince studied her, trying to discern whether Cari was being sarcastic, but Cari had only to think about all of the hand cramps she was escaping by learning the spell and her thanks became genuine.

Hesitantly, Pince smiled back and wished Cari a good evening, sending her off with a final, "Make sure you hurry to the Great Hall. It wouldn't do for you to miss dinner after studying so hard." Cari thanked her a final time and walked away, striding quickly in the direction of the Great Hall. Somehow, she managed to remember the way, but as she grew closer, she began to notice an odd phenomenon. Some of the students walking away from the area looked amused while others looked confused or even disgusted. Interest deepening, Cari walked even faster. There was a smell in the air, one she could almost recognize…

Cari walked into the Great Hall, eyes scanning the tables. She found exactly what she had expected and her face broke into a wide grin. She settled at what was becoming her normal spot at the Gryffindor table and began to construct her meal. "Well, well," George drawled. "If it isn't the girl who told the house elves that Americans eat more bacon."

Halfway through building her BLT, Cari winked at the twin. The other students looked taken aback by her playful gesture, but smiled as she held up a strip of bacon. "So I'm the reason we're having bacon for dinner here? You're welcome." She bit off a large section of the strip. "Mmm… crispy."

Speaking around a large mouthful of bacon, lettuce, and tomato, Ron agreed. "Bacon on bread for dinner? Bloody brilliant!"

Cari took a bite of her sandwich as she noticed that Hermione's plate was empty. Swallowing, she looked over and asked, "What's up, Hermione? Are you a vegetarian or something?"

Shaking her head, Hermione ladled a small helping of fried potatoes onto her plate. "No, not a vegetarian. Just distracted by what happened today."

"Yeah, some girl came into the dungeon and Snape dismissed class early. What happened?" Finally, Cari would get an answer about the events of the day.

Looking as distracted as Hermione, Harry explained, "Malfoy got attacked by a Hippogriff in our Care of Magical Creatures class today."

Unable to hold back, Cari exclaimed, "Yes! Couldn't have happened to a more deserving chunk of dragon dung."

Neville, Ron, and Ginny laughed, but Harry and Hermione still looked bleak. Slowly, Hermione said, "I agree, but it happened in Hagrid's class. His _first_ class. Can you imagine how that looks, especially with Malfoy being the type of dragon dung that would report right back to his poisonous father?"

Cari took a moment to process that, helping herself to some of the fried potatoes. She noted absently that even the potatoes were mixed with small crumbles of bacon. "You don't think that anyone's actually going to take Malfoy's side, do you? I don't know anything about Hippogriffs, but surely they wouldn't have been introduced to the class unless they're at least decently safe. Did Malfoy provoke it?"

Harry and Hermione described the incident, with a healthy amount of input from Neville and Ron. Apparently, Malfoy had disrespected the Hippogriff, despite repeated warnings not to do so. In the end, Neville sighed. "It doesn't really matter, though. Hagrid is a wonderful person and knows a lot about magical creatures, but doesn't express himself very well. A lot of people think he's less than intelligent and will be willing to believe that he doesn't know enough to be a teacher. If this gets out, it might even be enough for him to lose his job at Hogwarts."

Cari frowned. "I didn't get to speak with Professor Dumbledore for very long, but he didn't seem like the type to spread gossip. Wouldn't he be willing to take care of this privately?"

Grimacing, Harry said, "It doesn't matter how discreet Dumbledore is. Lucius Malfoy is cruel and hates Hagrid with a passion, since Hagrid is a half-giant." The last was said in a softened voice. "With the Malfoys having as much money and power as they do, it would be very easy for one of them to let slip to the public what happened – their version, of course."

Still not comprehending, Cari glanced from him to Hermione, who broke the explanation down further. "It's likely that Professor Dumbledore will have to just agree to whatever terms Lucius Malfoy sets in order to keep him quiet about what happened. Because, regardless of what he did to deserve it, Draco was injured by a creature Hagrid brought to the class. Adults can't just ignore that, especially if the story is twisted to sound even worse."

Ron gave Hermione a sidelong glance. " _Draco_?"

Hermione glared at him. "It gets a little confusing to just call him 'Malfoy' when we're talking about both him and his father, Ronald."

Looking slightly abashed, Ron took a deep swig of pumpkin juice as the rest of the table snickered. Obviously playing the role of peacemaker, Neville steered the conversation to more pleasant topics for the rest of the meal, but Cari noticed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione all remained distracted and hurried off soon after they had finished eating.

Enjoying a final bite of salad - with bacon bits - Cari took a deep swig of soda and excused herself. It was getting late, but Cari still had a few hours before curfew and all of her homework was done. Slowly and with many questions, she made her slow way to the Gryffindor tower and dropped her school bag in her room. Then, she took off to explore Hogwarts.

Cari worked her way around the entire seventh floor of Hogwarts, finding the entrance to the Divination Tower, the Astronomy tower, and the Headmaster's office. Of course, Hogwarts being Hogwarts, there were still a few sets of stairs, but they were shallow and in groups of no more than five. Mostly, they led down to landings that attached to more stairs, other than one set that led down to a wall. As hard as she tried, Cari couldn't figure out the reasoning behind it.

After she had done the circuit, Cari started talking to some of the portraits, who were oddly chatty. Of course, that all stopped when they found out she wasn't a pureblood. As it turns out, most of the paintings had been at the castle for centuries and didn't support the 'integration of those with inferior blood'. In fact, they were vocal in their lack of support, but after the end of the tirade, they would stop talking to her altogether. The first few times, Cari was offended, but she eventually decided it wasn't worth her time. As she made her way back to the common room, she resolved that, should she ever need to ask a portrait for directions, she would have to remember not to mention anything about bloodlines. Even if asked. Period.

Shockingly, Cari was the first one in the room. She changed into her pajamas and flopped onto her bed, pulling out _Essential Modern Potions_ and her Potions textbook. While she had the textbook out, she sorted the notes she had taken earlier and put each section of parchment into the book so that it corresponded with the correct section. With that task completed, she began to read about the next potion the class would brew, but she was tired enough that focusing was difficult, so she tucked it away. Instead, she scanned her schedule and decided to do what she had been avoiding: read over the assigned chapter for her Charms class.

For Cari, Tuesday mornings started with Charms. Unfortunately, it was also her worst subject. She snagged her textbook and began reading. The wind was blowing intensely outside, and something about the angle of it against the windows creating a high-pitched whistling. There was only one fix for it: listen to music. Thankfully, her iPod worked just fine now that there were no Dementors in the area, and she soon lost herself in the world of Charms. In fact, 'lost' was the perfect term, since she was lost around six pages in.

Groaning, Cari flopped over onto her back and stared up at the canopy over her bed. Maybe Charms would make more sense when she was in class. And maybe she knew that wasn't true. Also, maybe she didn't care. Cari slid the Charms book into her bag so it would be ready for the next day. Her trunk caught her eye and it took only a moment of rummaging before she pulled out her laptop. Once she pulled the top up, the screen lit for a moment before flashing white, flicking to black, then going to white again. From there, the screen turned to static-y fuzz. She hadn't thought that Hogwarts would have Wi-Fi, but at least she could have goofed around with the familiar device. Utterly frustrated and restless, Cari forcefully shut the laptop just as the door to the dormitory flew open, slamming into the wall behind it.

Cari jumped as Ginny strutted in. She was a complete mess, covered in dust and bits of grass. Her hair was thoroughly tangled, snarls evident despite the ponytail it was tied into. She also looked elated. Thinking back to Hermione's confiding words the night before, Cari knew the younger girl had probably been out on the grounds somewhere, practicing her flying. However, she was perversely curious to see what Ginny would say.

"Well," Cari started off, making Ginny flinch. Apparently, Cari was much stealthier than she had assumed - or Ginny was far too tired. "You look like you've had an interesting evening. What's been going on?"

Ginny hitched her shoulders as she turned to retrieve a brush from her bedside table. As she worked the knots from her long red hair, the witch said casually, "Oh, nothing much. I just like to go for walks in the evening." Cari raised an eyebrow and Ginny said innocently, "It's a little on the windy side out there tonight."

Well, that had been disappointing. Fortunately, there wasn't a need to respond because Hermione finally walked into the room. She didn't look quite as rough as Ginny, but her curly, light-brown hair was tousled and her robe seemed to be spotted with slowly drying water. Idly, Cari noted that it was extremely close to curfew and frowned as she asked, "Is it raining?"

Raising her eyebrows, Hermione followed Cari's gaze down to the dark spots on her robes. "Oh. I suppose it may be starting to sprinkle." She didn't even attempt to explain where she was.

The awkward silence settled in the room. Normally, Cari would just let the questions go and perhaps change the subject to ease everyone's nerves. However, between the impending Charms class and her laptop being on the fritz, she was on edge and less inclined to be tactful. "Okay, I know everyone's having fun keeping various secrets, but I'm not a fan." As the other two continued to stare at her, Cari sighed. "It's been a long day and I need a distraction. I suppose I can just harass you both until you tell me…"

Glancing at the other girl, Hermione slowly admitted, "Harry, Ron, and I went to see Hagrid. He's not doing so well after the whole Buckbeak incident. Mr. Malfoy has involved some high-ranking members of wizarding society." She cleared her throat and rubbed nervously at a small water mark. "He had been drinking a bit. When we spoke to him about it, he walked outside to dunk his head in a water barrel. I suppose I was standing a bit too close. He sent us back here immediately afterward."

Cari smiled encouragingly at her. "Now, was that so hard? I'm not going to tell on you, you don't have to awkwardly explain your way around a secret, and you can relax. Ginny? Feel like sharing?"

The red-head glared. "You're very pushy tonight, do you know that?"

Shrugging, Cari said dismissively, "Spent too much time with your brothers today."

Ginny let her mouth hang open. "Fred and George? Why were you with them?" Cari stared at her, unimpressed with the attempt to change the subject. Ginny turned to Hermione and murmured, "Told you they would be the first to get in trouble." Her shoulders slumped as she rotated back to eye Cari. "Fine. I like flying. I'm good at it. I was going to go out for the Quidditch team, but with the Dementors all over the place, I don't think this is the year to try it."

Cari nodded. She had seen the black-cloaked creatures and heard Dumbledore's opening speech about how they would be present all year. She didn't blame the younger girl. She wanted to ask how the others felt when the Dementors were around, but it seemed too much like prying. Instead, she asked, "What was the deal with this Lockhart guy last year?"

She had been eyeing Hermione as she asked and, sure enough, the young witch blushed fiercely. Ginny let out a burst of laughter. "He was this totally useless git they hired to teach Defense last year. He was completely self-obsessed, more worried about his hair than his students."

Hermione had been growing visibly more agitated throughout Ginny's explanation. "Oh, he wasn't that bad! He was a tremendous author and a very brilliant man."

Intrigued by the differing stories, Cari asked, "What happened to him? Where did he end up?"

Hermione was suddenly busy removing lint from her robes, but Ginny said, "Moron was trying to Obliviate Harry and Ron when the wand exploded. Hit him instead. Now, he's stark raving mad, enjoying a permanent stay at St. Mungo's. "

As Cari watched, Hermione briefly allowed her lashes to drift closed as she took a deep breath. Now Cari was starting to feel bad about causing pain for her new friend. She took a drink of soda and let her gaze drop to her closed laptop, making a small frustrated sound when she remembered that it was basically useless now, unless she desperately needed an epileptic-fit inducing nightlight. Ginny cocked her head to the side, newly-smooth hair hanging down nearly to her lap. "What is that thing?"

Seeming unable to refrain from answering any question, directed at her or not, Hermione said absently, "It's a laptop computer. A Muggle electronic device." Her eyes sharpened as she looked at Cari. "It won't work, will it?" Cari shook her head, but Hermione smiled. _Did I really tick her off that badly?_ Hermione turned without a word, walking to her bedside table, where she opened a drawer to remove a small white square. She set the tip of her wand against it, whispering, " _Gemino_." There were now two white squares and Hermione handed one to Cari. Smiling conspiratorially, she said, "My first year, I really missed my electronics, but the magic here disturbs the internal components and the way they process electricity. So, I created these cubes. If you plug them into your laptop, phone, or other device, they allow it to run off of the magic in the air. The magic itself becomes a type of alternative power source. Geminio-ed objects only last a few hours, but it will work until I can build a new cube from scratch for you."

Cari was completely floored. This type of advanced magic was thought up by a first-year? And one who, by all accounts, had been extremely busy memorizing every word of her textbooks? Taking the smooth square from Hermione, she shook her head and looked at the younger witch. "You know, we have something kind of like this at Echowick to keep our computers and things operational. We've had them for years. Designed by the top magical engineers in the world, which, I know, isn't saying much, but the wizards are very advanced in their field."

Ginny shot Cari an unfriendly look at her seemingly discouraging words and Hermione lost the small gleam in her eye that came out when she did something she knew was impressive. In a small voice, she said, "Oh. I suppose I didn't realize anything like this already existed." Hermione held out a hand to take back her invention, color flooding her cheeks.

Giving Hermione a look that suggested she had gone insane, Cari held the square tightly against her chest. "No, that's what I'm saying. Nothing even _close_ to this exists. We had the top wizarding engineers working on a way for electronics and magic to co-exist, and the best they could do was create a sort of… large pyramid, is the best way to describe it, which had to be plugged in to every port and then have spells put on it that have to be renewed three times a year! And those just let electronics work around magic; they didn't even attempt factoring in a power source." During this explanation, Hermione had looked shocked, then excited, and finally self-consciously pleased, but Cari wasn't done. " _Tell_ me you're selling these for a lot of money!"

Shaking her head, Hermione said, "No, I was happy to let anyone have one who needed it. To be honest, there are very few Muggle-borns at Hogwarts, so there wasn't much of a market." Her voice lowered as she muttered to herself, "Not that I ever would have thought about selling them in the first place. Silly me."

"Is it okay if I talk to my Headmistress about these? I'm sure she would be willing to buy them. I mean, no matter how much you decided to charge, there's no way they could possibly cost more than our current system." Cari thought for a moment. "Wait- have you started the process of having these patented?"

Hermione looked intrigued. "I don't know if the wizarding world has anything like a patent system. They have trade-marked brand names, but most of the time, they don't seem terribly concerned with the theft of ideas."

"We'll have to look into that." Cari had suddenly remembered the other reason she had wanted to use her laptop and she eyed the Muggle-born witch. "Would it be completely crazy to ask if anyone's figured out a way to connect the internet?"

Smiling wickedly, Hermione said, "Let's just say that boys are all the same throughout the world and the Ravenclaw boys didn't want to go without their 'screen time'. They never change the password, so it was very simple to hack into their wireless internet." She gave a sudden grimace. "Just never – _never_ – go into their most-searched terms." She shuddered and Cari couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, it's getting late so this is my last question, I swear. Do I need to get permission if I want to, say, use a wall of the common room for a few hours some night?" Cari blinked innocently at her two roommates - Ginny was completely lost in the conversation, but was paying rapt attention regardless.

Looking thoughtful again, Hermione said slowly, "I'm not sure. The common room is sort of ours to do with as we see fit, but you could always ask Professor McGonagall." There was a short silence in which Cari could practically hear Hermione's brain whirring. "Wait, a wall? You want to use a wall of the common room? What do you intend to do?"

Cari lifted one corner of her mouth in a half-smile. "Well, for now, it's just an idea. Let me work out some of the logistics before I get back to you. Besides, it's the kind of situation where it might be easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission."

Though she had been silent for the rest of the conversation, Ginny cut in with a load groan. "That. That right there is why Fred and George should never be allowed to hang out with anyone. One day with them and you're talking about going behind McGonagall's back to break the rules!"

Cari rolled that theory around in her head for a minute before finally admitting something she had realized hours before, "Actually, I feel more like myself than I have in a long time."

* * *

Author's Note \- Aww, Cari! Look who's starting to come back into her own. Well, that finishes up Cari's first day at Hogwarts! The rest of them won't be described in nearly as much detail, but hopefully, you think I'm doing an okay job with this one so far. I am going to be sticking with the major events of the series, but this is obviously a slight AU, so please don't freak out if there are a few differences. Just a head's up!

RebelliousPrince: Thank you! I actually modeled Tricks's 'sodie' thing after the way my German grandmother says it. I love it so much that it had to be in a story! The twin-speak is one of my favorite things, but I'm worried it gets a little much to read, so I try to use it only occasionally! And yeah, they didn't do themselves any favors with the potato...

All right, that pretty much wraps things up for this week! As always, drop me a review if you have a comment, question, or concern. I would be glad to hear from you! Thanks for reading, see you next Monday, and have a great week!


	64. The Second Day

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, situations, settings, etc. The only elements I own of this story are the original characters contained therein. All else belong to J.K. Rowling, her publishers, and Universal. I make no money from writing or publishing this story.

* * *

The Second Day

Cari rolled over, stretching as she let out a contented sigh. The room was cool, there was no wind whipping past the walls, and the light filtering dimly through the curtains clearly told her that she wouldn't have to be awake for a while longer. So why was she awake now?

Moving slowly to keep from waking up more than strictly necessary, Cari pushed herself up to lean on one elbow and peered around the room. Sure enough, Hermione was pulling clothes from her trunk. "'Mione?" Cari asked groggily. "Why are you up?"

Hermione, who had jumped slightly at Cari's voice, cast a nervous look over at Ginny before walking several steps closer to Cari's bed. "Sorry, Ginny's a light sleeper. I have some homework left to finish, so I'm going to head down to the common room until the library opens."

All Cari could do was blink stupidly in her new friend's direction. Deciding it wasn't worth the time and effort to debate, she just said, "Okay, have fun." She snuggled back down into her bed, relishing the cool sensation of her pillow even as Hermione walked into the bathroom. She was asleep before the studious witch left their dormitory room.

When Cari walked into the Great Hall a few hours later, she was flustered. She had just been forced to divert a situation and wasn't entirely comfortable with the way things had played out: Ginny had just left the bathroom and was sitting on the trunk at the end of her bed. Her legs were crossed comfortably and she was cradling one hand, palm-up in her lap. As Cari watched, Ginny plucked at a spot on the heel of her hand and made a frustrated noise. Cari had walked over, frowning. " _Hey, what happened?"_ she had asked, gesturing.

" _What? Oh, not anything really. Just a splinter. It's being really stubborn and won't come out no matter what I try."_

With all of her work in Building 7 back at Echowick, Cari had a lot of experience dealing with splinters. In fact, she considered herself kind of an expert. " _Do you mind if I take a look?"_

" _I mean- Well, why not?"_ Ginny had shrugged, extending her arm to display her hand and its splinter.

Cari made two gentle pulls at the sliver of wood, trying to ignore Ginny's winces. " _Yeah, that must have been one old broom."_

" _I don't know what you mean,"_ Ginny had said, blinking innocently.

Ginny had admitted to flying on occasion, but seemed reluctant to tell them how often she practiced her skills. Cari, unfortunately, was having none of it. " _Ginny, I know a splinter from a broom when I see it. Particularly this one; I'm guessing it's from one of the older Cleansweeps the school owns?"_ Ginny had given a reluctant nod. " _That's what I thought. Some of the charms they use to keep the twigs in the tail from detaching can make it really difficult to get a splinter out. That's why you're having issues."_

Drawing back on the memory of Professor Gregory talking - or, really, complaining - about Cleansweeps, Cari had managed to counter-charm the splinter. Once the protective magic had been removed from the sliver of wood, it had slid easily from Ginny's hand.

Ginny's face had turned from skeptical to impressed. " _Why do you know all of this?"_

 _Uh oh,_ Cari thought. She wasn't ready to reveal all of her secrets regarding her past. Trying for a breezy tone, she said _, "Oh, I was really thinking about trying to be a Healer for a while. You pick up stuff like that."_ She wasn't entirely sure that Ginny had bought her story, but covered it up by gathering her clothes and retreating into the bathroom.

After closing the door, Cari had leaned against it, closing her eyes for a moment. Internally, she resolved to keep from making any more slips about her past. These new friends of hers were witty and intelligent, but their sharp minds could be a curse as well as a blessing.

Now, she stifled a yawn as she spooned a helping of oatmeal into the bowl in front of her. As Cari glanced around at the table's offerings, she grinned and grabbed a few strips of bacon. Tricks was still at it. It was a fairly quiet meal, since Hermione was still in the library, Ginny was talking to Neville, Harry and Ron were shooting evil glares toward Malfoy at the Slytherin table, and the twins were conspicuously missing. Cari was too focused on dreading Charms class to feel the lack of conversation, especially as the minutes slipped by.

Eventually, she had to give in to her overachieving tendencies and leave with enough time to get to class early. Pointed in the right direction by Harry, she headed to the first floor of the castle. On the way there, she heard familiar voices whispering furtively and giggling beyond a corner, and she peeked around it to find the twins, shoulder to shoulder, looking down at a tattered scrap of parchment with writing all over it. Even as she watched, a group of Ravenclaw students approached from the other direction and George pulled out his wand, tapped the parchment, and muttered, "Mischief managed." The parchment went blank and Cari ducked back around the corner with a sinking feeling in her stomach. If the twins were hiding something they found funny, it could only mean another prank in the works. Letting out a huff of air, Cari decided not to stress too much. If she was right, everyone would know about it soon enough.

Finally, Cari made her way to the Charms classroom, which was quite a bit larger than she had expected. She had to stifle a groan as she stepped inside. Seated in the back row, around the section she normally would have sat in, was Duncan Jones. His harsh words at Platform 9 ¾ still echoed through her head, and she deliberately sat in the first row, taking care to choose a desk angled so that she wouldn't be looking directly at him. For the last ten minutes until class started - making up some of the longest minutes of her life - Cari set up her station and pretended she was the only person in the room.

This was another class with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, which was actually a plus in Cari's book, despite the presence of Duncan. The teacher of this class, a Professor Flitwick, was the Head of Ravenclaw, and Cari didn't need any prejudices giving her even more trouble than she was already slated for. Fortunately, Flitwick seemed genuinely nice as he walked in and introduced himself. He was extremely short and gave an impression of being rather harmless. And yet, Cari knew, the same way she had that Dumbledore was brilliant, that this being was not one to take lightly. Behind that innocent façade and nice-guy attitude, the soul of a born dueler lurked.

However formidable his skill may have been, Professor Flitwick was still a genuinely great teacher, all enthusiasm and patience. He did speak briefly about something that fascinated Cari: wand calibration. Some of the students gaped and muttered when he said that difficulty working with delicate spells and charms could mean that there was something off about the wand, but he was quick to clarify, "Please don't misunderstand me! Your wand chose you, so it is without a doubt a match to your magical signature. However, there are times and situations that put stress on the connection you share, and that connection must be retuned and strung to play the right tune again, as it were." When this explanation was met with mostly blank faces, Professor Flitwick shook his head and told them that he would go more in depth on it later and if they had any problems, to please stay and speak to him after class at some point.

Cari wasn't foolish enough to believe that wand calibration was the source of all of her Charms struggles, but maybe it was a factor that bore further consideration. For now, however, she had to write as fast as she could to take down the main points Flitwick was writing on the board. If she had a moment to do anything except write, it was entirely taken up with being impressed by Flitwick's speed. It took talent to lecture that well even while climbing up and down a ladder to write notes on the large chalkboard.

When the class was over, she went to Transfiguration. Cari had no real idea where to find the classroom, and eventually had to swallow her pride enough to ask a prefect. Cari was then pointed to a door just down the hall. The placard next to the door announced that Professor Minerva McGonagall taught Transfiguration here. Cari entered the room and, despite her adventures in finding the location, was the first one in the room. Well, the first _person_ in the room. There was a tabby cat sitting on the desk, staring inquisitively at her. Cari tried to ignore it as she took a seat, again at the back of the room.

She took out her supplies, ready to take notes. McGonagall had struck her as the type of Professor to lecture on the first day. Out of the corner of one eye, Cari could see the cat approaching, but she studiously kept her gaze elsewhere until the animal was literally standing on her parchment. Cari eyed it skeptically. She had never gotten along well with animals, and any attempts to be friendly had ended up badly in the past. This cat wasn't actually doing anything, however. Most of them flopped down, laying around and rubbing along people's legs. This one just sat on Cari's paper, gazing intently at her face. "Uh, hi," she said to the cat, feeling utterly ridiculous. "You'd better run along, cat. Professor McGonagall doesn't seem like the type to take kindly to uninvited guests in her classroom."

The cat snorted (if a cat can be said to snort) before turning and walking away. Far from heeding her warning, the cat returned to the front of the classroom and jumped up on Professor McGonagall's desk. It made itself very at home there. Cari sighed. She had tried to warn it. A loud slam caused her to jump and whip her head over to find Ginny standing next to her, smiling. The cat made a disapproving sound as Cari exclaimed, "Hey! Why are you in this class? Shouldn't you be with your own grade?"

Ginny shook her head after glancing apologetically at the cat. "No, Transfiguration is done a little bit differently. Instead of being grouped by year, classes are determined by skill level, but they are House-exclusive. It'll just be Gryffindor students in this class. I'm pretty good at Transfiguration, not to brag. Professor McGonagall gave me a few extra placement tests at the end of last year, and she said I was ready to advance to this class."

Happy as she was for the younger girl, Ginny being in the class made Cari question her own abilities. What if she was hopelessly behind already, before she even started? Sensing Ginny was waiting somewhat apprehensively for an answer, said encouragingly, "You must be really great at it, then! Professor McGonagall doesn't strike me as the type to make mistakes in judging skill level. But I hope you know that I officially claim you for help with my Transfiguration homework!" She added an exaggerated wink at the end, which had the desired effect of making Ginny grin.

The youngest Weasley opened her mouth to say something - knowing her, probably a sassy comeback - but then stopped as her eyes went to the front of the classroom. She elbowed Cari in the ribs and jerked her chin toward the front of the room. Cari looked to see the cat, sitting on the edge of Professor McGonagall's desk, stretch gracefully and keep stretching, its shape seeming to blur around the edges as it grew taller until Professor McGonagall stood propped against the front of the desk.

Cari lost all semblance of intelligence, sitting at the table with her mouth hanging wide open in shock. "What- what the _heck_ just happened?"

Ginny burst out laughing and even McGonagall cracked a smile. "Miss Romana," she said, sweeping closer in an intimidating rush of robes. "Have you honestly never heard of an Animagus?"

Cari straightened her spine and lifted her jaw, trying to gather her thoughts before replying. "Of course, I've heard of Animagi before, but I've never actually met one! Forgive me if I wasn't expecting my Transfiguration teacher to be disguised as a cat when I walked into the classroom for the first time!"

Professor McGonagall looked affronted. "I _beg_ your pardon? I was in no way 'disguised'. For your information, many Animagi find it relaxing to spend a few minutes in their alternate shape, especially in time of stress, such as the first week of a new school year or upon finding out that the only cultural exchange student to be Sorted into your House wishes to be re-Sorted into any other one."

Cari winced at the Professor's pointed words. "Please forgive me. I wasn't trying to sound rude; I was just surprised at your transformation. If I had known that was you, I would have addressed you very differently earlier!" She thought for a moment. "If it isn't rude to ask, would you happen to have a ballpark estimate of the number of full transformations you've made over your life as an Animagus? Your transition was exceptionally smooth, even compared to those I've seen in videos from class, and those Animagi had been practicing for many years." Cari hoped that the teacher would miss the fact that she hadn't addressed the House part of her speech.

From the rueful glint in McGonagall's eyes, she hadn't missed it at all. Cari got the sense that the Professor didn't miss very much. She did appear thoughtful as well, for which Cari was extremely grateful. "That is an interesting question. While I don't have an exact number of transformations for you at the moment, it wouldn't be terribly difficult for me to tally them up and give you a, as you say, 'ballpark' figure. And I thank you for the compliment." She inclined her head regally and Cari suddenly understood completely how Professor McGonagall's alternate form was a cat.

Before they could continue the conversation, more students began to file into the classroom and Professor McGonagall took her place at the front of the room. After everyone was seated and the Professor gave a quick introduction of herself and the subject, she waved her wand and a stick of chalk began to write the highlights of her lecture on the board behind her. Cari mentally congratulated herself on the correct prediction of McGonagall's teaching style. It seemed that the witch wanted to do a brief refresher course before they moved on to more advanced techniques. That suited Cari just fine, as she could use the chance to see exactly what the Echowick and Hogwarts staff thought her skill level was- and try to match or exceed it.

Professor McGonagall wrapped up the class exactly on time, but Ginny still seemed to be in a rush, pulling on Cari's arm to move her along. "Come on, hurry up! It's lunchtime and I'm starving!"

A few minutes into lunch, Cari realized that she had forgotten a page of her notes in Flitwick's classroom and hurried back to get them. Figuring she could get a head start on going to Divination, she turned a corner, heard a popping noise and was immediately covered in red-and-gold sparkles from head to toe. "No!" she heard as the twins came skidding to a stop in front of her. Cari spread her glitter-encrusted arms out in a silent 'what is this?' gesture.

"We're so sorry, Romana!" "We didn't know you would be coming around the corner!" "You weren't supposed to be anywhere near here!" "Please don't be mad!" The explanations and apologies came tumbling over each other so quickly that Cari could only blink in response until she held up a hand. Their words ground to a stop.

"How do I get this stuff off of my robes?" Cari asked, cutting straight to her main concern.

The twins exchanged apprehensive looks as Cari tried very hard to stay calm. "That's sort of the point…"

"It doesn't actually come off."

"Not for a few days, at least."

"Yeah, but no more than a week."

Cari stared at the pair for a minute, waiting for them to say they were kidding, but they admitted no such thing. Without a word, Cari brushed past them - rather roughly in an attempt to cover them with as many sparkles as possible - and stomped toward the Gryffindor tower, rubbing glitter out of her eye as she went.

As she strode along, she heard, "Of course it had to be her walking up."

"Weren't you watching?"

"No, weren't you?"

"No… Merlin, do you think we've finally ticked her off?"

"Well and truly, Gred."

"Great. Let's catch up with her, shall we, Forge?"

When the voices faded behind her, Cari assumed that she had outrun the pair, but they soon caught up. No matter how quickly she walked, she had gained two tall, ginger shadows. After it became clear that they weren't going to simply turn around and leave her alone, Cari decided to acknowledge their apologies, saying in a slightly bitter tone, "Yeah, whatever. Shouldn't you be back there watching more innocent bystanders get sucked into your prank?"

George shook his head. "No, this is more important. We needed to make sure you aren't mad at us."

There was a split second of quiet before Fred, obviously grinning, said, "Besides, the aftermath of the prank is the big attraction here."

Whirling around, Cari grabbed fistfuls of her robes and spread them wide on either side. "Take a good look, then. I hope it was absolutely everything you hoped it would be." Wheeling on her heel to continue toward the common room, Cari picked up the pace in an effort to lose the twins. It didn't work. They kept up a steady stream of defenses and excuses, seeming fine with communicating with the back of her head. Finally, Cari made it to the Fat Lady, gave the password, and strode quickly through the common room. If she hurried, she could still get a shower and hopefully magic the glitter off of her face, hair, and robes before Divination started.

Once again ignoring the earnest apologies and requests to turn around and talk to them, Cari ran up the stairs as fast as she could. She had only made up about halfway up to the first-years dorms when her feet went out from under her. Before she could comprehend what was happening, she had landed in a crumpled-up ball at the bottom of the staircase – which had suddenly turned into a steep ramp. Bewildered, she could only stare up at the twins, who looked down at her with matching expressions, an odd mixture of amusement and pity.

"Come on, Romana," Fred said, offering a hand up. Cari ignored it as she climbed to her feet.

Clearing his throat, George asked, "Why are you so mad? It's not that big a deal."

Cari lifted both eyebrows as she repeated, "'Not that big a deal'?" She let out a short laugh, scraping fingers through a section of her hair and shaking the excess glitter onto the floor. "You know what? You're right. I don't know what made me think you wouldn't pull pranks on your friends. Come to that, I don't know what even made me think I was your friend. What an idiot, right?"

She turned and took the stairs as quickly as possible, reaching the beginning of the first turn before Fred set his foot on the bottom step. The staircase turned back into a slide, but Cari grabbed the railing in a death grip and sent the twins a sardonic glare. "Nice try," she said venomously, before turning to slowly pull herself up and out of sight.

While she showered, using _scourgify_ a record number of times, Cari did her best to calm down. It wasn't like her to be this upset by something. The trick had just surprised her, and had come at the end of a very stressful week. She had probably overreacted, but she wasn't going to apologize to the twins. Really, the anger might do them good. Maybe they would plan their pranks more carefully in the future.

As Cari combed back her mostly sparkle-free hair, she held back a sigh. Two of the handful of people she actually got along with here were likely mad at her. Even if they weren't, she had just firmly defined herself as a true drama queen in their eyes. Before she could regret her reactions too thoroughly, Cari caught sight of her skin. The large, obvious sparkles had been washed away, but the remaining bits of glitter gave her skin a slightly pearly tone. It looked truly… odd. Once she had put on her almost de-sparkled robes, Cari headed back down the stairs. If she hurried, she might even have time to go grab some food before Divination…

When she turned the final corner of the girl's staircase and caught side of the common room, Cari gave a loud gasp. At the bottom of the stairs stood Fred and George, grinning widely and nearly unrecognizable under the layers of glitter coating their faces, hair, robes, and even shoes. When they knew they had her attention, they threw their arms out to either side, each giving a twirl as they shouted, "Ta-" "-dah!"

Cari put a hand to her mouth, desperately trying to keep from giggling. It was no use: first one escaped, then another. By the time she reached the bottom of the staircase, Cari was laughing all-out. The twins joined in, but Cari noticed they took care not to touch her. With a smile stretching across her face, she gingerly nudged each with her elbows, figuring she could always change robes if necessary. "You two are so weird," she said affectionately.

They exchanged glances. "Does this mean you're not mad at us anymore?"

Smiling, Cari shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm sorry for freaking out," she apologized, conveniently forgetting that she had resolved not to do so. Tilting her head to the side, Cari added, "Besides, I can definitely see what you meant by a more enjoyable aftermath. I'm starving. Any chance you'll come to the Great Hall with me? Any residual glitter will look like nothing next to you two."

Wearing smiles, the odd trio made their way down to the Great Hall, chatting the whole way about pranks both past and planned. When they walked into the room, there was a noticeable lull as students caught sight of the Weasley twins. To their credit, George and Fred handled the attention well, acknowledging the laughter and comments with good-natured grins. They ate quickly, but still left early, since the twins wanted to check on their prank. There had been more than a few students eating lunch covered in sparkles, but – according to them – most of the effects would be seen as students left the Great Hall for their final class of the day.

When they arrived at the section of hallway with the glitter bomb, they found the anticipated results of the prank, but they also found a surprising situation: Fred and George weren't being blamed for it. "How could it have been them?" students were asking each other. "They were victims, too."

"Why would they prank themselves?"

"It must have been someone else."

"My money's on that new Gryffindor from Echowick."

"Yeah, she seems smart enough to do something like that."

"I heard she punched one of the Weasley's in the Gryffindor common room."

Hiding around the corner, Cari hid her face behind her hands and groaned while the completely unsympathetic twins snickered at the students' assumptions. "Well, we didn't see that one coming," said George. "Guess there are advantages to letting this happen. Other than making you less mad, of course," he added after a moment's thought.

"I'm still trying to figure out how Romana here has become the pranking mastermind of Hogwarts," Fred pouted. "She's been here two days and people are already assuming she could outsmart us!"

"Not surprising," George said consolingly. "I mean, she did beat you up pretty badly in the common room, remember?"

Cari lifted her head enough to shoot a glare at him. "I did _not_. I only knocked him over and it was in self-defense." A new thought struck her and her widened eyes betrayed her alarmed realization. "Am I going to get in trouble for doing this?" She gestured to the corner.

George snorted. "Not likely. No one knows for sure who did this, and there's no way they could discipline you for people thinking you _might_ be behind it. Besides, with you wanting to be sorted out of Gryffindor, McGonagall's going to do anything she can to make you stay. Even if people say you did this, she won't be rushing to give you detention…"

He trailed off and exchanged a stunned look with his twin. The shocked expressions faded quickly to wide grins and Fred mused, "You know, Romana, we might have to keep you around. With you as the untouchable scapegoat, we could get away with murder this year!"

Cari rolled her eyes at him, but stopped abruptly when she caught sight of a clock. "Oh, no! Is that seriously the time? What's the fastest way to get to the Divination tower? I'm going to be late!"

Surprised, Fred and George turned to stare at each other for a moment before their gazes turned evil. "Should we?"

"Well, she did ask for the fastest way…"

Just as Cari was beginning to regret her question, they turned to her and said as one, "Follow us."

She stood still, trying to decide whether this was really a good idea, but the twins heaved regretful sighs in unison.

"Guess she's just going to be late, then."

"Too bad. Trelawney doesn't forgive that stuff very easily."

Fully knowing that she was being blackmailed, Cari heaved a sigh of her own and followed them.

They went along a path that Cari knew she would never use again. _Could_ never use again, even if she had wanted to. They used three different secret passages, had to jump over several wide gaps where the stones of the floor had all but crumbled away, and, at one point, appeared to move _through_ a wall. Abruptly, she was standing in front of the entrance to the Divination tower. It looked the same as it had the night before, except for the ladder that seemed to be made of silver. The twins silently pointed up before turning to walk away.

"Should we go to class?"

"Nah, it's McGonagall. She's going to take points for being late anyway."

"Too true, twin o' mine. Besides, she'd probably say the glitter was a distraction."

"Yeah. May as well skip and go see our friend the Squid."

Cari shook her head at their thought process before remembering just how late she was. She turned and clambered up the silver ladder as quickly as she could. There was a trapdoor at the top, but it was closed. Raising a fist above her head, Cari rapped three times as hard as she could while still keeping her balance. Nothing happened for a second, but she soon heard footsteps headed toward the trapdoor. Abruptly, it was pulled open by a woman.

Despite her instinctive good manners, Cari could do nothing but stare at the woman for a moment. She was rather tall and her thin frame combined with the fact that Cari was looking up at her made the woman seem preternaturally stretched. She was wrapped in a thick cloak yet still had a variety of scarves in different shades looped around her neck. Charms and beads from necklaces peeked out between the layers of scarf, giving her a glittering appearance. Her hair was bushy, but pulled back starkly from her face by a handkerchief embroidered with thousands of shimmering sequins. The lack of hair drew the eye to the only focal point on her face: her enormous, thick-lensed glasses.

While Cari was studying the woman, she had been staring back with confusion and surprise filling her magnified eyes. She recovered quickly, however, eyes filling with a dreamy, knowing expression. "Ah, and here is our lost fellow. Come in, come in, my dear! Make yourself at home." She drew back, the edges of her cloak dragging dramatically at the carpeted floor. As Cari's head emerged, she glanced around, trying to ignore the faces staring at her. Another class with Slytherin, it seemed. The room was dim and the air felt thick. Immediately, Cari began to feel a little claustrophobic. The large, roaring fire didn't help matters, giving off flickering heat that only served to intensify the incense filling the air. There were windows, but they were covered by multiple layers of a gauzy red material.

Tables filled the room, all surrounded by thick armchairs. So much furniture squeezed into such a small space made Cari's sense of claustrophobia even worse. She made her way over to an empty chair right next to a window. Even dim light was better than sitting in the shadowy depths of the middle of the room. She put down her bag and turned to sit down, but jumped in shock as she found herself face-to-face with the woman. Cari cried out and attempted to move back, but the armchair caught her behind the knees and she collapsed into it.

The woman bent down to look into Cari's face. "My dear, are you quite alright?"

Cari gave a laugh that was only slightly shaky. "I'm sorry, Professor Trelawney. You just gave me a little shock. I hadn't heard you behind me."

The woman gave a delighted little laugh. "You know who I am? Of course, of course, I felt the Gift was very strong in you the moment you knocked on my door. I am very sensitive to these things, you know. To my enlightened eyes, you seem to have a… slight shimmer about you."

Feeling self-conscious about the glitter still clinging to her skin – despite her considerable number of sparkling classmates – Cari remorsefully corrected the woman. "I'm sorry, Professor, I had just read the sign on the trapdoor. That's how I knew who you were. I don't think I have any kind of Gift."

The woman frowned as some of Cari's classmates snickered. "Be that as it may, you do have the Gift. I can sense it within you." At the last statement, she closed her eyes and waved her hands through the air just in front of Cari's head and torso. "And, as I am also in possession of the Gift, I shall be the perfect mentor to help you bring out your own talents. For instance, I have already gleaned that your name is Licaria Romana."

Cari gave a forced smile and nodded in appreciation of the professor's abilities, but one of her classmates snorted out, "I'm fairly certain that's called reading the class roster." Sniggering echoed through the room and Cari bit her lip to keep from grinning.

Trelawney looked less than pleased, turning to start the class. "As I was saying, today we will be focusing on reading tea leaves."

Cari had been slightly nervous, as taking this class meant she was skipping Divination I, but Hermione had reassured her that Divination used the same curriculum every year. The professor was infamous for teaching the same lessons repeatedly, and just insisting that the students look deeper into themselves and 'release their inner Gift'. Hermione had seemed utterly unimpressed with the idea of Divination as a whole, but had said that she was going to take the class to say she had experienced it. In any case, the whole class seemed to consist of drinking tea and analyzing the lumps of tea leaves gathered at the bottom.

Cari couldn't see anything in hers. They didn't really look like anything in particular, unless one held it at an odd angle. Then it sort of looked like a carrot. It probably didn't help that, in drinking the tea, Cari had accidentally swallowed some of the leaves. That's what she got for being an American, spoiled by tea conveniently restrained in a bag.

Eventually, Trelawney came around the room, helping students read the leaves. After telling one boy that he would come into some money and a girl that she was going to have a serious accident in the near future, the professor came by and sat in one of the empty chairs at Cari's table. "Well, Miss Romana? How does your future look so far?"

Shrugging, Cari looked down into her teacup again. "I don't really see anything, Professor. It just looks like some dirt in a pile. Oh!" she brightened, "I'm really bad at Herbology! Maybe I'm going to get better at it?"

Trelawney held out a hand theatrically, gesturing for Cari to hand over the cup. She did and the teacher studied it silently through her thick glasses. "Interesting. Yes, very interesting indeed. My dear, this does not seem to be showing your future at all." Cari knew that, but was surprised that Trelawney was going to admit it. The woman wasn't done, however. "Somehow, the fates must have intervened." Her voice had raised in volume and, anticipating a scene, the other students quieted and focused on the pair as the professor went on. "No, somehow, your tea leaves have defied the natural order and are instead revealing all the secrets of your past."

Apparently, this wasn't what the students of the Divination class had wanted, because they turned back to their own conversations. Taking advantage of their new lack of onlookers, Cari snatched her teacup back from Professor Trelawney. The teacher blinked owlishly at her and Cari grimaced. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but I would very much like to keep my past private."

The professor lowered her hand, still elevated from holding the teacup, and said airily, "I will do my best, but backstories of the tragic variety resonate deeply with my Gift." Seeing the dismay on Cari's face, she abruptly turned into a human being. "In all seriousness, my dear, I will try to keep your privacy intact. In the event I do learn something of your past, it will remain between you and I. Regardless, please remember that I am always available if you should feel the need to talk."

Cari couldn't quite believe it. Of all the things she had expected from today, having a heart-to-heart with the 'crazy' professor hadn't been on the list. At her shocked expression, Trelawney smiled sadly. "As someone with her own rather tragic past, I think it highly offensive to barge into the early lives of others, especially when they've asked you not to." She patted Cari's hand gently and rose, beads and sequins glittering in the filtered red light. "Class, you are dismissed. I will see you on Thursday."

Still confused, Cari stood with the rest of the class. She was the last one down the ladder, but before she descended, she said, "Professor Trelawney?" The teacher in question looked up expectantly. "Thank you." Trelawney bowed her head gracefully and Cari climbed down the ladder.

Cari headed straight toward Gryffindor Tower, but there was a huge crowd of people standing in front of the Fat Lady's portrait. Politely, she stood at the outer edge, but it soon became apparent that no one was moving anytime soon. She began to weave her way through the group, but people soon began parting for her, moving to reveal the twins, still encrusted with sparkles, facing an obviously displeased Professor McGonagall. The professor caught sight of Cari and beckoned her imperiously. "Miss Romana. I believe we need to have a word." Looking down her nose at the gathered students, she stated blandly, "In _private_. Though if anyone is suffering from a lack of something to do, I have heard that Madame Pomfrey is seeking volunteers to clean bedpans."

Words echoing slightly in the suddenly-deserted hallway, Cari said, "I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall. What did you need to talk about?"

"We need to discuss the location currently known as 'Glitter Corner'." The twins, seeing that the teacher's back was turned, began to tiptoe slowly away. Whirling around, McGonagall said, "Ah, ah! And where do you two think you're going?"

George spread his hands innocently. "We're sorry, Professor. We thought we heard someone say that the Gryffindor Quidditch team is going to lose the Cup again this year."

Fred, nodding enthusiastically, said, "Yeah, we had to go defend our honor. Or- you do think we're going to win, don't you, Professor?"

Both twins blinked innocently at the Transfigurations professor who stared back, unamused. Cari had to fight back a grin when she realized McGonagall was actually gritting her teeth. "Regardless of any unseen slanderers of the Gryffindor chances for winning the Cup, I have an ever-increasing number of students coated with glitter and I need to get to the bottom of it. Miss Romana. Did you bewitch the Charms hallway?" Cari shook her head. "Misters Weasley, did you bewitch the Charms hallways?" Fred and George shook their head and McGonagall nodded once, sharply. "All right then. It will forever be a mystery." She fixed all three incredulous students with a steely gaze. "If any new information on this issue surfaces, I expect you to keep it to yourselves. Agreed?" They all nodded and Professor McGonagall walked away.

Cari stared after her, befuddled. Fred leaned a forearm on her right shoulder while George rested his arm on her left. "We are never pulling another prank without you around."

Shaking her head, Cari extricated herself from between the two of them and walked through the portrait, brushing sparkles off her shoulders as she went. It took her nearly a full half hour of leaning into the mirror before she managed to tweeze all of the glitter from her eyelashes and eyebrows. When she finally stopped looking like an extra in _The Labyrinth_ , it was time for dinner and Ginny was waiting impatiently outside the bathroom door.

"Finally!" she grumbled. "Some of us like to freshen up a little before dinner."

Cari nearly made a comment about Harry, but the red-headed witch seemed like she was in no mood. Instead, she sat meekly on her bed until Ginny was ready. Before they left the room, she asked, "Should we wait for Hermione?"

Ginny shrugged. "I haven't seen her lately. It seems like she's never around anymore. Maybe we'll catch up with her at dinner." It seemed like a fairly solid assumption, so the two headed down to the Great Hall, taking care to avoid the Charms hallway. Somehow, they ended up in the dungeons, walking up into the entrance hall. Cari had decided to stop asking questions.

Dinner was salad, pot pie, and mashed potatoes. Cari spooned a large helping of pot pie onto her plate, followed by a bit of salad. As with most of her meals at Hogwarts, she ate quickly and left for the library. When she walked in, Cari spotted a girl sitting alone at a table, brown hair bound back haphazardly. Cari went over and sat her books down. When Hermione glanced up, she said, "Hey, I think your hair is coming undone."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I know, trust me. Hair ties are considered too modern for Hogwarts, but ribbons and such just fall right out of my hair. It's too thick!"

Cari lifted an eyebrow and offered her own black elastic hair tie from its semi-permanent home around her wrist. With a look of complete thankfulness, Hermione bound her curly brown hair back into a tight ponytail. Deciding to follow her lead, Cari pulled another black hair tie from her bag and pulled her own hair up into a messy bun. There was something about the act of tying back one's hair that encouraged activity and problem-solving.

And so, in amicable silence, watched over by Madam Pince, the two witches worked away at their studies.

* * *

Author's Note \- Whew! You made it! I'm fairly certain this is the longest chapter of this story I've ever posted, and I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize it was so long, but there wasn't really a good place to divide it up. Speaking of things I'm sorry about, it's Tuesday. I wish I could blame the late update on the length of this chapter and the time it took to edit, but really, I just forgot yesterday was Monday until I was lying in bed, about to go to sleep. I truly apologize and thank you all for your patience.

ghostcrab311 - the 'yay, an update' may be even more appropriate for this chapter! Thanks for the review, glad you're enjoying Tricks's ongoing efforts to include bacon in the Hogwarts menu. Hopefully the Gryffindors appreciate it!

Guess Who - I don't know when you'll read this chapter, but thank you for the review! That's an interesting take on Shadow and Cari's hypothetical relationship. I hope Chapter Fifty wasn't too much of a shock for you... :(

One final thing I wanted to tell you guys: I've been reading through the beginning of this story and I've noticed a number of errors (sorry for that, by the way) and I will be trying to fix them over the next week or so. I'm not one-hundred percent sure what this will do to those of you who follow _Echowick_ , so if you get emails that I've posted new chapters, please don't bother trying to find them. The next update will be on Monday. Thanks so much!

As always, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next Monday. Have a great week!


	65. Friends

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, or situations. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Friends

The time spent in the library with Hermione was the most peaceful time of Cari's day. Admittedly, it had been a less than restful day, but still. Something about the quiet whispering, the sound of pages turning, and the muffled footsteps of other students was lulling her into a state of tranquility that she hadn't experienced in a long time.

Shockingly, Hermione made to leave the library earlier than Cari. "I've already spent several hours here today. I might call it a night. Unless you want me to stay? I don't mind."

Cari studied her new friend. She had only known Hermione for a few days, but she could recognize that the deep shadows under the girl's eyes weren't normal, neither was her unnatural paleness. "No, it's okay. Go get some rest. Sounds like you've been running off your feet all day. See you back at the room."

Hermione flashed Cari a grateful grin and began to put back a few books and sign out several others. In minutes, she was gone, leaving Cari seated at an empty table. She tried to keep her concentration on her Charms textbook, knowing that the information would be needed in the days to come, but found herself growing steadily more uncomfortable. There weren't many students in the large room so late in the day, but there were several small groups scattered around the area. More disconcertingly, these small groups kept casting less-than-surreptitious glances over at Cari before whispering behind raised hands.

Try as she might to convince herself that they probably weren't talking about her, Cari didn't know how long she could continue to sit there. She had come to feel that Hogwarts was somewhere she belonged, a place she could have friends and be a normal kid without having to worry about being hated for her bloodlines. _They're not over there whispering about your bloodlines_ , a nasty voice in her head pointed out. _It's much more likely that someone told them about you and what you did to poor Shadow._ Cari couldn't fight back a wince at the name, even when it was spoken internally, but the voice wasn't finished. _You don't deserve to belong. You don't deserve to be a normal student. You especially don't deserve to have friends, especially considering how well you took care of the last one…_

The mental image of Shadow's broken form flashed behind her eyes and Cari stood abruptly. The whispers stopped as the other students looked at her in confusion. Cari ducked her head and began gathering the books she hadn't gotten to read through yet. With a quick stop at Madam Pince's desk, she signed the heavy volumes out and left the library, hands still shaking at the brutal reminder about her past.

On the way out of the library, she made a few turns that seemed right, a few that seemed a little iffy, and found herself in a dimly-lit hallway with literally no one in sight. Cari slumped against a wall. It was late, she was tired, and it seemed like it would be impossible to find the energy to retrace her steps and figure out where she had gone wrong. Hearing voices from down the hallway, Cari looked over eagerly only to recoil in horror when a group of three ghosts drifted through the wall and continued their conversation as they meandered through.

Careful not to make any noise, Cari settled herself and her books on the ground, trying to breathe through her old phobia. _Ghosts are not here to hurt you, Cari. These ones couldn't care less about you being here. They're not even looking in your direction._ She pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes, only for them to fly open when she heard footsteps approaching.

A girl was walking up the stretch. Only half of her form could be seen through the dark shadows of the hall, but Cari's heart calmed slightly at the new lack of ghosts in the area. Though she had expected the girl to walk by, Cari tried not to show any signs of shock as the stranger settled down beside her. Studying the girl's profile and clothing, Cari groaned. "No offense, but I'm really not up to the usual Slytherin/Gryffindor put-downs and douchiness."

The girl smiled, still looking at the wall across from where they sat. "Good, me neither." Cari cocked her head to the side, trying to decipher her meaning when the girl turned to her full-on. She had to swallow a gasp. The Slytherin girl was beautiful, but half of her face was covered in a sprawling, dark-red mark, giving her otherwise flawless skin a mottled appearance.

After Cari had stared for a moment, the girl smiled, lips stretching oddly on the marked side. "I'm Atrox Rosier. And you are?"

"Licaria Romana. One of the Echowick exchange students, if you hadn't figured that out."

"Romana," Atrox repeated slowly, rolling the name around. "I like it. Do you? I'm in the market for a new name, but there are so many out there that are ugly or disliked. And then there are those, like my own, tainted by its own bearers."

Cari could only blink at the Slytherin girl. "Uh, I guess I like 'Romana'. It's very Italian, though. I don't know if you have the nose to pull it off."

Atrox smiled. "You may be right about that."

The silence stretched between them for a moment before Cari realized she had nothing to lose by asking odd questions. "Atrox? Do you mind if I ask why you need a new last name?"

"I don't mind. I belong to the House of Rosier, one of the ancient Pure-blood houses of the wizarding world. The only thing is, I'm not particularly talented magic-wise, and since my mark makes me less desirable for a marriage, I've been warned that I'm to be disowned and cast out to start my own life once I reach my majority. You don't get to keep the surname when you're disowned."

Cari grimaced in disgust. "That's horrible! How does the wizarding world keep finding ways to take the worst practices from the last couple of centuries and make sure they stay around?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I don't mind being disowned." At Cari's incredulous look, she let out a pealing, contagious laugh. "Don't look at me that way! It's a tremendous burden, belonging to a family in which everyone is watching you. I only wish the tradition would allow them to disown me right away instead of waiting for another three years. It's going to be exciting, starting my own life. I get the chance to start again fresh. Blank page." Atrox cast a sidelong glance at Cari. "From what I hear around the school, you're in much the same situation."

"Sort of. I still have some family, but not a lot. And I have to go back to my own starting place next year." She fell silent, staring glumly at the wall. "Hogwarts isn't all bad. It's just… all of the traditions! They make me wonder if I ever belonged in the wizarding world. I guess I shouldn't complain. I should probably be treating this as a vacation of some kind. I'm lucky to be here."

Atrox watched her dispassionately. "Don't do that. Don't de-value all of your concerns because Hogwarts is better for you at the moment than Echowick. That doesn't mean it's a vacation, but just because it's hard doesn't mean it's impossible. If you decide you don't want to stay in the wizarding world for the rest of your life, that's fine. Just make sure it's your decision, not someone else's."

She stood up, offering Cari a hand. Unsure what Atrox was intending to do, Cari took it hesitantly and they shook hands. "It was very nice meeting you, Licaria Romana." She turned and wandered down the hallway, headed in the same direction she had been going earlier. As she walked, she was saying softly, "Atrox Romana. Hello, I am Atrox Romana. My name is Atrox Romana. No, I do believe she's correct. I'm not Italian…"

Shaking her head at the odd interaction, Cari somehow stood and began working her way back to the Gryffindor tower.

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no!" Cari chanted as she rushed around her room the next morning. "It's your third day, Cari. Are you seriously going to be late? What is wrong with you?!" Why had she not gotten up with Hermione? Or Ginny? She had just been so tired…

By the time she was ready, Cari had to skip breakfast and head straight to History of Magic. Even then, the seat she had sat in last time had been taken. Mustering her confidence, Cari strode to an open seat somewhere in the middle of where the Gryffindor section merged into the Ravenclaw section. No one cared, and she set out her notes from Monday with ease. Binns walked in and began his lecture, picking up exactly where he had left off at the end of the last class.

She never would have thought her favorite class would be one taught by a ghost, but Cari didn't want History of Magic to end. Binns seemed to be entirely focused on the wars of the wizarding world. Surprisingly, this was a solid method. Magical history did seem to make a lot of progress in times of war. And for a teacher generally accepted as the most boring at Hogwarts, Binns was disturbingly good at describing horrifically bloody incidents. His knowledge of such incidents was impressive and backed up by everything in Cari's History textbook.

When the class was over, Cari took her time gathering her things. Binns had disappeared and the Ravenclaw students were engaged in a discussion about whether or not the goblins were involved in the First Runic War. Trying to casually listen in on the conversation, Cari followed the students to the Entrance Hall. Eventually, she had to cut out of the front doors to walk over to the Care of Magical Creatures area.

Cari made it to the 'classroom' without incident, and was slightly amused to be the first student there. Again. Admittedly, she had been walking rather quickly, now that she stopped to think about it. An extremely large man was pacing the small clearing, muttering softly to himself. Slightly wary, Cari made her way over and stood for a moment, carefully considering the merits and potential downsides to interrupting the man's self-directed tirade. Fortunately, she was spared from making the choice by the arrival of more students.

"Hey, Hagrid! Are you ready for this?"

"Just remember to keep some of the more, er, _exciting_ pets under wraps and you'll be great!"

It was probably the first time that Cari had ever been truly grateful to see the twins approaching.

The man scowled at the two boys, but she could see the hint of a smile under his bushy beard. "Oh, no, no' you two. Yer takin' this class?"

Fred nodded sagely. "You know, George and I feel we have real talent where magical creatures are concerned. We may eventually be two of the best known – and best looking – creature tamers around! But we thought this class would be a great way to find out exactly which creatures respond best to our skills."

Hagrid snorted and George stepped in to say, "Now, we know we've never had any particular luck with dragons, owls, gnomes, ghouls, or doxies… where was I going with that? Well, since I'm on the topic, it turns out that we can't make Dementors laugh, either."

Giving an only slightly amused groan, Hagrid asked disbelievingly, "Yeh two tried ter make a Dementor laugh? Are yeh insane?"

Fred shrugged. "One walked into our train car on the way to Hogwarts. We thought it would be rude not to provide some entertainment. And we tried to give it some food…"

George cut in with, "I mean, they must be hungry. They're just skin and bones!"

Fred nodded and continued, "But chocolate frogs were a bad idea. Dementors move slowly and it's creepy, but the reaction time just isn't there when a chocolate frog, say, hops onto a Dementor's hood." Hagrid made a slight choking noise and Fred muttered, "Or crawls inside."

Horrified as she was by the reminder of the Dementors, Cari couldn't resist joining into a conversation that painted them to be more on the amusing side. "Well, you never know. Maybe it did end up eating the frog after all!"

Looking slightly surprised, the twins turned to consider Cari for a second. "That's true! Way to think on the positive side, Romana!" They clapped her on the back and remembered to introduce her to the large professor.

"Hagrid – oh, excuse me. _Professor_ Hagrid," George began with a wink at the teacher, "We would like you to meet our friend Licaria Romana."

"Nickname: Cari," Fred added. "Cari, this is Professor Hagrid, one of the nicest gentlemen you will ever meet and we're betting he'll be one of the best professors as well."

George grinned as he said, "No matter how terrifying the creatures are that we'll be introduced to in this class, we can be sure that Hagrid will keep us safe."

The man in question seemed torn between subtly wiping his misting eyes and rolling his eyes at the introduction, so Cari gave him his privacy by looking around. "So, Professor Hagrid, where would you like us to sit?" Remembering the nature of the class, she quickly tacked on, "Or stand?"

Hagrid pointed behind them. "Ah, yeah. There're some seats righ' there for yeh. Make sure ter get a spot up front. Don' want yeh ter miss sommat."

Smiling at the new Professor's growing confidence, Cari turned to look at the seats. Sure enough, neatly sawn sections of a tree trunk had been sat upright to make small stools. She took one near the front, but off to the side in an effort to avoid any potential catastrophes. The twins made their way over to the spot Cari had claimed, but took two seats directly behind her.

She twisted on her log to look at the twins. They were smiling at each other, faces mischievous. Cari's look turned into a glare, but she kept her voice light and pleasant. "Would you two very much mind finding a seat somewhere else? Thank you." She turned back around. Hagrid was pacing again.

"Did you hear that, Gred?"

"I did, Forge. It would seem she doesn't want us sitting behind her. What do you think about that?"

"I think we should be offended."

"That's true, but let's humor her. She has a mean glare."

Cari rolled her eyes. Maybe she should just give in and switch to a seat in the back… She glanced over to find Fred settling down on her left side. A noise brought her attention to the right, where George was arranging his bag neatly beside him. Cari faced forward, carefully ignoring them both. "This might actually be worse," she muttered to herself.

George and Fred ignored her statement and talked to each other across her. After watching Cari fidget uncomfortably for a while, George said kindly, "Romana, if you're really that weirded out by sitting between us, we can move. Would that make you relax?"

Eagerly, Cari nodded, but Fred cut her off with, "Oooh, that's too bad. Looks like all the other seats are taken." She turned to find that, yes, the other students had shown up while she had been distracted. It looked like this was another class with Gryffindor and Slytherin together. She groaned and settled in, inwardly resolving to arrive early for the next class and find a better seat.

Regardless, she soon had more important things to focus on, chiefly that it was difficult to take notes due both to the lack of a desk and the oversupply of sassy red-headed twins in the area.

"Oops, did I bump your elbow, Romana? So sorry…"

"Excuse me; I can't hear Professor Hagrid over your scribbling. Do you mind?"

"Wow, that wind just ripped your notes right out from under your hand! That's a shame. You worked hard on those."

The last was enough to make Cari snap. Voice tight, she agreed, "You're right! I did. So get them back. Now."

"Now, how would we do that?"

"We know we're extremely talented young wizards-"

"-but even we can't control the weather, Romana."

Two sets of whiskey-brown eyes blinked innocently at her. Cari was getting ready to scream when a hand lowered next to her, offering a neat stack of papers. "Here, I believe you were looking for these." Cari turned to look into the stunning green eyes of Atrox Rosier.

"Thank you so much!" Cari whispered, twisting a little farther to discover that there was an empty seat next to the older Slytherin girl. "Hey, do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," Atrox whispered back. "This log has your name on it!"

Cari smiled vaguely as she gathered her things. As Atrox patted the empty log, she saw that it literally had 'Licaria Romana' written in flowing red letters with a golden outline. "What the-" Atrox smiled conspiratorially and snapped her fingers. The writing faded, leaving a perfectly ordinary log, but Cari still sat gingerly. The twins pouted back at her for a second, giving Atrox a rather unfriendly look, but moved on quickly enough, charming leaves and small sticks to stick to a Slytherin boy's back.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the rumors Cari had heard about Hagrid's experiences with the other class were true. Instead of working with exciting creatures like hippogriffs, they were stuck learning about some kind of creature called a bowtruckle. They weren't the worst little beings the class could be studying, but bowtruckles were far from the most interesting subject. Slowly but surely, Cari began to regret her choice of extracurricular class. The only thing that saved her was the soft, strange commentary from Atrox, talking about the misunderstandings that wizarding society had about the bowtruckle.

"-In fact, they are rather remarkable child care experts. If given the chance and the right child, they can raise a better witch or wizard than any other creature I've come across."

When Hagrid eventually dismissed the class with a short section of reading for the night, Cari gathered her things slowly, chatting with Atrox about the moral ramifications of leaving a potentially dangerous magical creature in charge of a child. The conversation came to an abrupt end when two pairs of hands dragged her across the grounds, back toward the castle. By the time she realized what had happened, they were nearly inside of the castle.

"Excuse you," Cari fumed. "I was in the middle of a conversation, in case you didn't notice."

"Oh, we noticed," George said grimly.

"And I would say you're lucky we came along when we did," Fred nodded earnestly.

"Otherwise, you would have no idea what kind of danger you were in," George agreed.

Slightly dizzy from trying to follow their half-and-half conversation, Cari shook her head, frowning up at the pair. "What are you guys talking about? She's my friend and I was probably safer talking with her at the edge of the Forbidden Forest than I am talking with the two of you here in the castle."

Fred shrugged. "You may have a point about that. But trust us, you do not want to spend too much time with Atrox Rosier."

"Yeah, you said that, but until you start tossing out some reasonable explanations, I'm not really listening."

"Don't you know anything about the Rosier family?" George asked with a sigh.

"No." The twins exchanged exasperated glances. Cari huffed, "Well, forgive me if I don't keep up on the names and histories of random wizarding families in the United Kingdom."

"They're not just some random random family," came a new voice from behind them. Cari raised a hand in greeting as Harry, Hermione, and Ron joined the group. Ron was the one who had spoken before and he continued when he reached them. "The Rosiers are infamous in the wizarding UK. This isn't the right place to tell you about it, but just trust us when we say that you need to avoid them at all costs."

"Mm hmm." Cari mostly agreed to keep from having to fight in the Entrance Hall, but all of her goodwill went out the window when Ron threw his book down onto the floor to emphasize his point.

"Romana! This is serious. You need to promise us that you'll stay away from Atrox Rosier before she can cause you a real problem. It's for the best." The patronizing tone in Ron's voice was enough to put Cari's teeth on edge. Besides that, the sound of the large textbook hitting the stone floor had made Cari jump, and now she was feeling less than charitable.

"I'm really not going to promise that, and if you take that tone of voice with me for much longer, we're going to have a real problem." Cari realized that she was getting dangerously close to shouting and took a deep breath. "Thank you for the concern, but until you can give me an actual reason, I'm not going to break off the one friendship I've managed to make at this school. And no, 'trust me, they're bad people' does not count as a valid reason."

She could tell from the looks on the Weasley boys' faces that there were more arguments on the way and shook her head. "You know what? I just remembered a variety of important things I need to get done right now. I'll be off somewhere not here." Before she turned and retreated to the library, Cari added softly, "For people who get so offended when they're judged from stereotypes of their family, you are frighteningly willing to do that to someone else. Maybe you should work on that."

Cari was skipping lunch and hiding in the library when Ginny walked in and made a beeline for her table. Cari groaned inwardly. _Great, a confrontation with the most hardcore of all the Weasleys. Just what I needed to top off this day._ Cari allowed her expression to smooth, folding hands on the table in front of her as she expectantly watched Ginny's approach. No point in pretending not to see her.

Ginny pulled out the chair across from Cari and took a seat before leaning in. "I heard you had a bit of an argument with my brothers in the Great Hall. Something about Atrox Rosier and how you refuse to stop talking to her? Then you attacked them for trying to help you?"

"Well, that isn't exactly how I would have said it happened, but you've got the gist. Here to yell at me?"

"Please," Ginny replied with an impressive eye-roll. "If anyone knows how overexcited my brothers get, it's me. Besides, Hermione told me everything that really happened. You called them out on their mistakes and they got mad. I respect that."

Cari smiled with more than a hint of relief. "I'm glad. You're not going to lecture me about how Atrox Rosier is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs?"

"No way. I know Atrox. She's close with Luna, a friend of mine from Ravenclaw. I know all about Atrox and how much she wants to separate herself from the Rosier name. I've tried explaining that a few times myself, but I know how my brothers can be. They wouldn't listen to me, either." She leaned even closer, making intense eye contact with Cari. "That isn't to say that they're wrong about the Rosiers, though. You should avoid that family like the plague. They're known… Well, maybe not _known_ , but everyone is pretty sure they're Death-Eaters."

Cari searched her friend's face. "I'm sorry? Is that slang for something?"

"What, Death-Eater?" Cari nodded and Ginny's face blanched. "You don't know what a Death-Eater is? How much do you know about You-Know-Who?"

"Are you messing with me right now? Am I supposed to just know who you're talking about?" Cari looked suspiciously over at the nearby bookshelves. "Is this Fred and George getting payback in some bizarre way?"

"Do you know anything about a dark wizard who came to power about twenty years ago? Did you ever learn about that in your old school?" Ginny's eyes were completely serious and Cari racked her brain for anything she might have learned.

"Oh, wait! Are you talking about Voldemort?"

Ginny flinched reflexively and Cari stared as the younger girl explained, "Yes, him. We don't call him by his name over here. When anyone says 'You-Know-Who', that's who they're talking about. Now, the whole thing with him-"

"Wait a minute," Cari interrupted. "You don't say his name? That makes no sense."

"It's because, back in the war days, there was spell called the Trace put on his name. People who used it casually would find themselves surrounded by Death-Eaters shortly after saying it out loud. After enough people died saying his name, he became known as You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. So, to take the long way back to my original point, a Death-Eater was a follower of You-Know-Who. They all came from Pure-Blood families and were very proud of being a part of his inner circle."

"Proud? If everyone knew who these people were, why didn't the Ministry just go and arrest them? Take out enough of Vol- You-Know-Who's troops, and you'll leave him without power."

"That's just it: no one knew for sure who was a Death-Eater and who wasn't. Just being a suspected Death-Eater was enough to get a person favors from everyone. Besides, the Ministry worker you told your suspicions to could very well be a Death-Eater themselves. From the way my parents talk about it, that was a very bad time, very uncertain. Anyway, there are a couple of families who are still thought of as the typical Death-Eater kind of name. The Rosiers are one, and by all accounts, they did some very nasty things during the war. If there's any truth to it – and I think there is – someone with your blood history should probably stay far away from them as possible."

"That's a terrible thing to say! No one should be judged like that for the stuff their family did in the past-"

Ginny interrupted with, "The Malfoys are another highly-suspected Death-Eater family."

"Okay, and if Draco didn't act like a mini-Hitler-in-training, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. At least, I think I would." Cari rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Isn't there anything that can be done about them? Some way to check out any of this?"

Sighing, Ginny asked, "Have you ever heard of an Unforgivable Curse?"

"Of course, but what does that have to do with anything?"

This led to a discussion filled with questions and moral indignation from Cari and by the time both girls left the library for the final class of the day, they hadn't said another word about Atrox and her trustworthiness, family connections or no.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know, _another_ original character? How dare I continue to make up people when J.K. Rowling already created so many characters? I guess I'm just a real go-getter. Also, I'm really not 100% sure if the Trace thing is actual canon, but I like the explanation and decided to throw it in here. Apologies.

Speaking of things to apologize for, I'm sure you've noticed that - once again - this chapter is coming a day late. Yesterday was a very long day (about 20 hours on four hours of sleep, if you want to get particular), so I literally didn't have the time to edit or post this, though it's my own fault for not planning better. But now for the part I hate: I'm still in the process of reading through _Echowick_ and making edits where I find mistakes and I can't help but notice that the story is dragging. A lot. I feel there's more story to be told, but if there aren't many interested people, I might put it on temporary hiatus until I can work through everything. I hate asking, but I'm feeling particularly unmotivated lately, so if you could take three seconds and leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't have to be anything in-depth, but just let me know you're still reading!

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and have a great week. I'll see you on Monday (probably actually this time)!


	66. Boggart

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, or situations. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story (few as they may be at the moment), which I receive no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Boggart

Cari cast a nervous glance over her shoulder as she picked up her pace. There was no one around as she made her way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and that was the problem. The corridor was completely abandoned, but that was only one of the things that made it eerie. As she walked briskly, Cari nervously noted that the stones making up the hallway seemed to be getting older the farther she got, growing chipped and darker. If this wasn't disconcerting enough, the walkway itself was becoming noticeably more narrow, the windows farther and farther apart. The whole area had a gloomy air, like the castle knew that the students had forgotten about this section, and it wasn't happy.

Objectively, Cari knew that it made sense to have a Defense class in an area of the castle where there were unlikely to be innocent and unsuspecting bystanders, especially if the professor favored a more hands-on approach, but it was still uncomfortable. On top of all this, Cari was stressed because she was running a bit later than she would have preferred and the extra distance did nothing to help. She had stayed in the library to chat with Ginny until the end of the lunch hour and a couple of minutes extra, a mistake she would not be making again.

When she finally reached the Defense classroom, Cari breathed a sigh of relief – not because the interior of the room was any less creepy than the hall, but because there were at least other people in this area. Though with a sinking feeling, Cari realized that she recognized two of her classmates; the identical heads of bright red-orange hair were hard to mistake for anyone else.

There was an empty seat next to the twins, but Cari was still less than happy about their treatment of Atrox earlier and so chose a spot in a different area. Not across the room, but subtly behind and to one side so that there was a slighter chance of being spotted. It wasn't that she was mad at them, per se, but the new and unwelcome information about the Weasleys and their prejudices was difficult to reconcile with what she knew of their personalities. Cari decided privately to give herself some time to work through everything she had learned and decide how to proceed.

She felt like a hypocrite, but Cari couldn't help but surreptitiously glance at her watch. Yes, she had nearly been late, but the Defense professor was by any definition of the term. _I suppose it's possible that he's waiting to make a dramatic entrance like McGonagall or Snape…_ she mused. The Hogwarts professors and their flair for the theatrical were baffling, but still a source of great entertainment.

Cari found herself disappointed, however, when the man simply opened the door, entered the room, and walked in like a normal person. His hair was either a light brown or dark blonde, looking slightly paler overall with the strands of gray scattered throughout. His face was young, however, looking slightly mismatched with his hair, but that also could have been the expression he wore. The man was smiling slightly, eyes bright. His reddened cheeks and mussed hair were good signs that he had been forced to run a bit to get here, even considering how late he had arrived. Relating strongly to this necessity, Cari took an instant liking to the man she assumed to be the Defense professor.

"Hello, everyone. Sorry I'm late," the professor said pleasantly as he breezed down the center aisle and up to the desk in the front of the room. "I am Professor Lupin and this is Defense Against the Dark Arts."

He hesitated for just a moment before turning to scrawl his name on the board. "If you would please take out your textbooks, today we will be… jumping right into…" he trailed off, staring distantly at the class as though in deep thought. "Actually, how would you lot feel about doing something a little different?"

There was a general buzz of confused excitement and Lupin dropped what little remained of his teacher façade and began to grin earnestly. "I've been informed that there is something living inside of a wardrobe in the teacher's lounge. As I was told during today's lunch period, I lacked the time to do anything other than confirm that it is indeed something of dark origins. If no one is opposed, we could take a short trip to the lounge, assess what kind of creature it may be, and devise a plan of action. I believe it would be much more beneficial for you to learn through experience rather than the pages of a textbook. What do you think?"

The whole class enthusiastically shouted their approval of the idea, but Cari found herself distracted. One of the twins had turned to the other and caught sight of her sitting behind them. "Cor! Freddie, look who's taking this class with us!"

Cari stifled a groan as Fred half-turned, craning his neck until he could see her. Even with his head twisted almost upside-down, she could still see a mischievous smile spreading across his face. "Excellent. It's going to be a good year, Georgie-Boy."

Cari shook her head and refocused her attention on Professor Lupin, who was now instructing the class to leave their belongings and follow him to the teacher's lounge, luckily located only a few minutes' walk down the sketchy hallway. Unfortunately – at least for Cari – the short walk was still ample time for the twins to harass her, though she did her best to shrug them off. In any case, the sight of the teachers' lounge provided plenty of distraction and they soon left her in peace.

Blinking somewhat uncertainly in the surprisingly light and airy room, the Defense class focused intently on Professor Lupin as he began explaining how to narrow down the type of creature they were about to encounter.

"We have a couple of clues already about what type of creature is inside: firstly, the wardrobe itself. There are very few creatures which would voluntarily spend their time confined to such a small space. This narrows down the list quite a bit, though there are still too many options to risk simply opening it. Another hint we have is time. According to Mr. Filch, this wardrobe has contained the creature since the end of the last term and it has not left at any point."

One of the girls, Patricia Stimpson, raised her hand. When Lupin called on her, she asked in a halting voice, "I'm sorry sir, but how can Mr. Filch know that nothing has left the wardrobe? After all, he hardly could have been watching it all of the time. Even then, who's to say the creature didn't become invisible?"

Lupin nodded approvingly. "Very good question and an excellent observation. Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Stimpson. In answer to both, when the creature was discovered in April, no one wanted the then-current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to attempt dealing with it, so Headmaster Dumbledore placed security wards around the sides of the wardrobe. These wards wouldn't contain the creature should it attempt to escape, but either the Headmaster or one of the professors would have been alerted. Needless to say, the wards did not go off during the summer. Now, what can we assume by the creature's apparent lack of a need to exit the wardrobe?"

No one volunteered to answer the question and Professor Lupin began scanning the assembled students. "Aaahhh… Yes, Mr. Towler, you seem to have an air of wisdom about you. What does it mean that the creature didn't have to leave the wardrobe over a period of nearly six months?"

Kenneth Towler, half-crouched at the back of the class, blew out a steady stream of air while he thought. "Um. Well, I guess it means that it didn't need to do anything out here."

Some of the students chuckled at that, but Professor Lupin nodded like Kenneth had said something profound. "A solid explanation, to be sure, but let's follow that train of thought a little further. If the creature in this wardrobe didn't need to do anything out here, what does that tell us about how it lives?"

"It- Well, it…" Kenneth straightened suddenly, a gleam of understanding dawning in his eyes. "That means that it doesn't need to eat."

"Very good! Another five points to Gryffindor. Yes, if the creature didn't have to leave its wardrobe, that means it does not need to eat or drink – at least, not in the traditional senses. There are a good many things in this world which feed on things other than food. The last hint we have is this." Professor Lupin stepped close to the wardrobe, no more than six inches away, then leapt to the side to show them the door handle which had started to turn.

"What does that tell us, sir?" Alicia Spinnet called out.

"It rules out several more options," Professor Lupin mused thoughtfully. "If it was something that meant to hide its presence, it wouldn't rattle a doorknob. That means it isn't a djinn or a bodach, which means this is only one of several options, none of which will be catastrophically released through a careful viewing…"

The lounge was quiet enough to be thought empty as Lupin used a precisely-cast _diffindo_ charm to carve a small slice of wood from the side of the wardrobe. Carefully, easing out a breath to steady himself, the professor leaned forward and peered into the enclosed space. For a moment or two, he stayed in that position, but levered himself back to a standing position with a wide grin on his face. "Class," he said excitedly, "It is as we deduced. What we have here is a boggart."

The group of Gryffindors glanced around at their classmates, attempting to gauge how much – if any – the others knew about boggarts. Thankfully, Lupin seemed willing to explain. "A boggart is a being that feeds off of fear, almost like a Dementor, but much less powerful. There are several ways to destroy a boggart, but the simplest and most effective is to laugh at them."

The class stared at their Defense professor in disbelief. "It isn't as easy as it sounds," he assured. "Boggarts stimulate your fear by discovering the thing you're most afraid of and presenting it to you by transforming themselves. The trick is to use the incantation _Riddikulus_ along with visualization of how to make your worst fear amusing. I'm going to give you a few minutes to practice the incantation as well as think on ways to laugh at your fear. It will be far more difficult to think up solutions when actually confronted by the boggart."

With that, the students were dismissed to drift around the room and practice their imaginary boggart-banishing. Cari immediately retreated to a dim corner, tucked between a worn-out sofa and a tattered armchair, and began working on her mastery of the word and wand motion. This was far more difficult in practice than in theory, because her hands were shaking so badly that she could hardly grip her wand. _I couldn't handle the Dementors,_ she worried. _A boggart, no matter how much less powerful, might still be enough to push me over the edge._

"So, Romana," two voices drawled, distracting Cari from her worries, "Focusing terribly hard on that spell."

"Yes, well, some of us want to get it right the first time," Cari snapped back, tense enough without any 'help' from the twins.

George scoffed, "Please. We could do the spell without a second thought."

"How nice for you," Cari drawled, insincerity dripping from every word. " Now, if you'll excuse me?" She tried to walk past the distracting brothers and relocate to another part of the classroom, but Fred and George moved to block her.

"Okay, what gives, Romana?" Fred asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You've been acting weird all day."

"I have not. In fact, this is how I always act, especially when I have a spell to learn. Now will you please get out of my way?" Still studying her with skeptical amber eyes, the twins simultaneously parted and allowed her to pass.

The weight of the dread in the pit of her stomach almost made it difficult for Cari to walk, but she managed. Professor Lupin was standing across the room, idly watching the students practice as he flipped his wand end over end. Every now and then, the doorknob of the wardrobe would turn slightly as the boggart noticed his continued presence.

"Professor Lupin?" Cari asked softly, willing her voice not to shake.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" he asked kindly.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Sir, I just wanted to ask, is everyone going to have to go up against the boggart? Or just a few students?"

Lupin looked out over the classed thoughtfully, seeming to note each of its members. "I believe the class is small enough so that everyone will get their chance to face the boggart."

"Is there any chance I could be excused from this particular exercise, sir?"

"Why?" the professor asked, nonplussed. "I saw you earlier, practicing the incantation. You seemed to have mastered it."

"It's just…" Cari waffled back and forth, unwilling to reveal so much of her inner struggle to a man she hardly knew, even a professor. In the end, she hedged, "I'm just concerned about what the boggart might turn into for me."

Professor Lupin frowned. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but that's the point of the practical application. You have to be ready to face an assortment of creatures in the world, especially in times like these, and you don't always have the option to remove yourself. I know it's frightening, but fear can end up being one of the most disabling attacks you'll ever experience. It's far better if you can prepare now." Cari nodded miserably, not willing to fight with the professor, and he gave a small shrug. "There would really be no method to keep you out of the boggart's way. If you're in the same room, you're a target." Lupin patted her softly on the shoulder and moved away to start gathering students.

Drawing in a deep breath, Cari tried to run through her head all of the reasons she was terrified of ghosts. The list went on and on, and she grew more confident in the idea that her turn with the boggart would result in a ghost floating at her, though she still didn't know how to make a ghost not as scary. Her brain raced, trying to think of options even as she joined the rest of the students.

In the end, Lupin had the class form a sort of loose line, grouped so that everyone could still see what was happening up front. "Be ready, class. When I give the signal, I'm going to open the door and release the boggart out into the classroom. By all logic, it will likely go for the first person it sees." Kenneth Towler, who had been pushed to the front of the line, was beginning to look a little green, but Professor Lupin didn't leave much time for second thoughts. "From there, however, there is no way of knowing for certain where the boggart will move. It could decide that I'm the biggest threat and thus should be taken on next, or it could move on to whomever is displaying the highest level of fear. There is no definite way of knowing. Is everyone ready?"

Only two of the students gave nods – even then, slight – but Lupin must have considered that a sufficient answer, because he immediately yanked on the door handle and stepped aside. The class simultaneously held their breath as the door yawned wide, displaying the suspiciously-dark interior of the wardrobe. After a beat of silence, a low, angry-sounding growl trickled through the air. Kenneth tensed visibly, grip tightening on his wand as a large, beautiful tiger stalked gracefully through the doorway. It made its way down from the wardrobe, still managing to move in that freeze-frame near-crawl that told everyone in the room that the tiger was stalking prey, and that prey was Kenneth.

When Cari managed to pry her gaze from the scene in front of her, she studied Professor Lupin. He looked… not disinterested, but more blandly curious about what would happen, eyes flicking between Kenneth and the tiger that the boggart had become. Cari grew uneasy at his laid-back appearance when something so potentially dangerous was going on, but she soon noticed that he was gripping his wand nearly as tightly as Kenneth. Satisfied that the professor would indeed be willing to intervene if needed, Cari returned her focus to her classmate and the boggart.

Kenneth's eyes were wide, and he seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilation as the tiger lowered itself even further on its paws. The growl once more filled the air as the large cat tensed, but Professor Lupin's calming voice reached the members of the Defense class. "Remember, Kenneth, it is only feeding on your fears. You can handle this."

The boy nodded and readjusted his grip on his wand. " _Riddikulus_!" he cried, making the perfect wand motion.

The entire class tensed, eager to see the result of the new spell. At first glance, nothing seemed to be happening, but the tiger had stopped moving and the color of its fur seemed to be shifting from dark orange to a more vibrant and unnatural tone. The cat itself looked to be growing larger, but not in an intimidating way – more like it was getting rounder. The boggart continued to grow smaller, brighter, and more round until Cari frowned. The transformation had been completed, and the boggart was now in the shape of a stuffed tiger that looked suspiciously much like Hobbes of _Calvin and Hobbes_ fame. Now a plush toy tiger, the boggart in this shape dropped to the floor with a pathetic half-squeak.

Kenneth turned to his classmates, beaming, but another sound filled the silence: "Come on, Spinnet!" Fred urged. "You should definitely go next!"

"Unless, you're scared, of course," George added.

"That's true, George. You know these girls, always claiming to be fearless, but as soon as something comes about to test it-"

"-They lose all their nerve. You said it, Freddie. Guess we'll just have to tell Wood that he made the wrong choice in Chaser for the team…"

"Shut up, you two!" Alicia Spinnet growled. "I'll go next, just stop talking." Sneering at their triumphant grins, Alicia moved to the front of the line, looking down at where the stuffed tiger was still lying on its side. Before anyone could properly prepare, Marcus Flint was springing to his feet, a smirking leer on his face.

"Spinnet," he acknowledged gloatingly. "I knew you'd come begging for me sooner or later. Now, just kiss my foot and we'll get started." Flint grinned menacingly, dropping a slimy-looking wink as he began to walk forward, already seeming uncomfortably close to the Gryffindor Chaser.

To Cari's surprise, Alicia took a half-step backward before she managed to gather herself. Kicking up her chin, she snapped, "Riddikulus!" and Marcus Flint appeared to take a Bludger to the gut. The class howled with laughter – though perhaps the Weasley twins were a little louder than the rest. Gratified, Alicia stepped back into the crowd of students and let someone else go up against the boggart.

Over the course of the class period, Cari saw a variety of fears. There was a small, fire-filled tornado followed by a vampire, a great white shark, and a poisonous green apple that made Cari wonder how the wizarding world felt about Disney movies. Finally, there was a development: in moving to catch a better glimpse of a student's basilisk boggart, Cari strayed too close to the edge of the gathering and exposed herself to the creature. It made no sense to her, either at the time or looking back, but it was almost as though she sensed the boggart's attention shifting to her. She braced as the slinky (a student's answer to a basilisk) rolled slightly in her direction and seemed almost to hesitate before dissolving to an amorphous smoke.

Finally, the wispy boggart coalesced into a miniature broom, hovering in the air in front of Cari's face. She frowned at it. _Why is this supposed to frighten me? I'm afraid of ghosts, not brooms…_ The tiny broom began a series of graceful, swooping dives as she watched intently. Suddenly, it banked into a sharper dive and a cold feeling started in the pit of Cari's stomach. The broom seemed to speed up just as it approached the floor and didn't stop, exploding into shards and fragments when it made contact.

Cari was shaking violently as she watched pieces of the broom skitter across the floor. _Ghosts. I'm afraid of ghosts. Why didn't it turn into one? I'm more scared of them than-_ Her train of thought was utterly derailed as a series of gasps sounded and her fellow students turned to focus on a different part of the room. Cari only need to turn a few degrees to see the ghost flickering beside her. With a strangled sob, she staggered back a step and clutched at her chest.

That sandy blonde hair, those bright blue eyes… Even partially translucent, she would recognize Shadow anywhere. Cari tried to keep her focus on the wall she could partially see through her crush's ghost, but couldn't focus on it. Her view was too obstructed by the bewildered hurt in Shadow's eyes and her own tears.

"Cari…" he trailed confusedly. At the sound of his familiar voice, Cari began crying in earnest. Shadow's gaze drifted to the sections of broom on the ground before moving back to Cari. "Why? Why did you do this? Why did you kill me?"

Clasping a hand desperately over her mouth, Cari stumbled a step away from the too-familiar form, then another and another until she had dashed from the classroom as quickly as she was capable. Several voices rang out, calling after her, but Cari ignored them. She ran until she was lost in the maze of hallways, thanking someone – anyone – for their emptiness as her knees gave out.

* * *

Author's Note \- Some of you called this a mile away. You knew Cari wasn't past Shadow's death, especially since she just keeps ignoring her feelings about the whole thing, but they say Hogwarts is sentient. Would a sentient school really ignore the welfare of an occupant, even a newly-adopted one? Guess we'll find out... On a different note, you all shocked and humbled me with your kind words on the last chapter, and I would like to take a minute to thank you guys individually:

MicCash65 - Thank you so much for the encouragement! Judging from the review, you're one of the readers I think must be psychic (take that however you wish). Thanks for the feedback!

A New User - That is good information and a pretty solid head-canon. Thank you for sharing both! After I do some additional research, I may change all mentions of the Trace to Taboo. If I do, I'll definitely give you a shout-out in the A/N. Thanks!

BrigitteHere - Aww, thanks! I hope it was worth the wait! :)

Guest One/Monique - Another psychic reader! I think you're really going to love some of the chapters coming up. Thanks for the feedback, and I hope this was enough to keep you occupied on a break!

Guest Two - You. Your review honestly made me tear up a little bit. Thank you, deeply, for the encouragement. I will do my best to continue meeting (or maybe even exceeding) your expectations!

Yukicross - I know, I'm sorry! That chapter still hurts to think about. I've been considering getting a beta (just because we're more likely to catch mistakes with two pairs of eyes instead of only mine) but I haven't decided yet. Thank you so much for the review!

Guest Three - Yes! I agree completely with your take on the Weasleys! They're either presented as absolutely perfect or as puppetmasters, with very little in-between. It bothers me in other stories and I'm so gratified that I'm not leaning too hard in any one direction. Thanks for the comments on my original characters as well! I try to form them as best I can, but it's always nice to hear they're not falling flat!

RebelliousPrince - Oooh, an old fling? ;) (Sorry for the winking face.) No apologies necessary, though! Sounds like your hands are full, hopefully in the best possible way. Yes, Atrox in an OC, and I have to say that some of your other ideas are spot-on. I love all the Halloween stuff! Thanks for the review!

In summary, you guys are the best. I know I don't say that nearly often enough, but you're all wonderful people. I have two chapters to write in order to finish another story, then I'll be focusing everything I've got on AAE. If I do have to put the story in hiatus, it will most assuredly be temporary and I'll make the wait as short as possible. As usual, apologies for the late posting of this chapter. Holiday craziness, you know? On that note, Happy Fourth of July to those of you in the USA! To our friends in the UK, nothing personal! Wherever you are, thank you for reading and I hope you have an absolutely fantastic week. I will see you right back here next Monday!


	67. Clashing

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, plots, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Clashing

She should have been crying. With the emotional turmoil spinning inside of Cari's chest, she should have been sobbing desperately or - at the very least - sniffling. Instead, she was sitting with her back resting against the wall of the hallway while she stared across at the other wall. Everything felt muted, even the chill of the stones against her back. Distantly, Cari realized that she was once again in a state of shock, but didn't mind. The gauzy, staticky feeling was preventing her from being in too much pain, and she couldn't help but be grateful.

And yet, her peace was not to last. "Miss Romana!" a voice called. Cari was vaguely aware that her name had been repeated for quite a while, but the sound had only just wormed its way through her tumultuous thoughts. She blinked a few times, staring around the area for the source of the noise. Finally, a dramatically-waving hand inside one of the paintings on the wall caught her attention. She looked closer to find…

"Sir Smethwyck?" Cari asked, not entirely sure she was seeing correctly.

"My dear, are you quite alright?" the self-knighted historical figure asked, concern covering his face. "You seem to have made a speedy exit from your class, one I'm not entirely sure had finished. Can I be of any assistance?"

Cari let out a mirthless laugh, struck by an internal sense of wonder at how strange her life had become. "No, thanks. I think I just need some time to calm down without anyone asking questions I'm not ready to answer." She took a breath, trying to send a smile to the worried-looking painting. "I'll be fine in a few minutes."

This didn't seem to help. "I apologize for seeming pushy, but this is not one of the better sections of the castle." Sir Smethwyck glanced around the deserted hallway and lowered his voice even further. "The Bloody Baron is known to haunt these halls with particular fervor, especially on days when he is feeling less-than charitable. Today being one such day, I think it best to remove you from the area."

Normally, this would have been enough to get Cari up and sprinting away from the scene, but she was just too drained at the moment. "Let him come. I don't care anymore." With that, she rested her head on folded arms balanced atop her knees and closed her eyes, shutting out any further interactions with anyone, be they nosy painting or threatening ghost.

She stayed like that longer than she could keep track of – and in all honesty, may have dozed off briefly – but was brought back to reality by the sound of approaching footsteps. Cari tensed, but didn't raise her head. After all, the Bloody Baron would hardly make walking noises as a ghost. That meant whoever was approaching was a human being and that in turn mean that Cari didn't care. _Oh, random stranger, you wanted to hurt me? Sorry, I'm tapped out of feeling at the moment. Can I get back to you later?_

Cari sighed. Even her internal sarcasm sounded half-hearted. The footsteps stopped next to her and Cari was almost curious enough to look at their owner when she realized something odd. _I'm smelling… chocolate? Why does it smell like chocolate?_

Squinting up at the new arrival, Cari found that she was being offered a large chunk of chocolate by Professor Lupin. It was very nice of him, but Cari couldn't bring herself to accept the confection. "No, thank you," she refused, ever polite as she buried her head back down into the space created by her folded arms.

"Miss Romana, please trust me. You need to eat this. It will make you feel better."

She looked up at the professor once more, eyes narrowed for reasons other than light this time. "Is it cursed?"

"What? No! Why would you think something like that?"

Though she really didn't feel as though she owed him any explanations, Cari had a little twinge of guilt at the dismayed expression in Lupin's eyes. "Sorry, you were just – a little oddly insistent about the chocolate. Just making sure. But still, no thank you."

Giving a heavy sigh, Professor Lupin settled beside her on the floor and Cari obligingly scooted over to give him more room. _A stupid thing to do, really_ , her internal voice mocked. _There's an entire hallway worth of space for him to have without you moving._ "Miss Romana," the professor started in a tone somewhere between sympathetic and long-suffering, but Cari interrupted.

"Professor Lupin, if I try to eat that chocolate, I am going to vomit," she informed bluntly.

To her shock, her companion smiled. "Tell you what: You take just one bite of this. If I'm right, it'll help your somewhat-compromised emotional state. If you're right, you can vomit on my shoes. Do we have a deal?"

Looking away to hide a smile of her own, Cari accepted the chocolate and took the tiniest bite she could manage. Strangely enough, it did seem to help. Her stomach settled, her heart soared back up to where it was supposed to be, and the fog in her mind even began to dissipate slightly. Cari glanced at Professor Lupin in askance. "I believe your shoes are safe."

"Pity," he replied. Cari cast a strange look in his direction and he shifted uncomfortably on his section of floor. "We could have called it your revenge for my not listening to you earlier."

Ah. Now his renewed discomfort made sense. With the renewal of the topic, Cari moved the chocolate away from her mouth once more. Any recovering appetite she may have had was now gone and the smell of the sweet was almost overwhelming.

Professor Lupin noticed this development. "I'm so sorry, Licaria. I should have listened to you when you came to me with your nervousness about confronting the boggart. I didn't mean to dismiss you, I just thought you were undervaluing your magi- your ability to fend off such a creature. I should have stopped to consider that students such as y- that students are very capable of having very private fears-"

Cari gestured sharply to cut him off. "Professor, just how much did Dumbledore tell you about me and my situation?"

He had the grace to look ashamed. "It was actually Professor McGonagall."

She sighed. "Of course it was. In any case, I don't care that you know about my problems. I care that now, all of the students in my class know about it. And that they've seen me cry, but that's not my main focus here." It sounded worse out loud, and Cari considered laying her head back down until she died in the hallway.

"I wish I could do something more than apologize, Miss Romana, but that seems to be all I have in my power. If it helps at all, I don't believe your classmates would necessarily make a connection between your boggart and any part of your past."

Cari looked at him, feeling the hopeful expression on her face, but not able to fight it back. "Do you really think so?"

"Of course. It was obvious your boggart was a broom – and your reaction leaves little doubt that there was some kind of an error – but it could be mistaken for a fear of flying. Boggarts don't always bring up something from your past. I've seen boggarts mimic a witch or wizard being burned at the stake, and we all know that isn't something that's happened in the past few hundred years."

"That's true…" she mused. "Maybe you're right. I still don't love that everyone saw me freak out, but I guess considering the other possibilities, it might be the lesser evil."

Professor Lupin gave a wry smile. "Miss Romana, you are a student in a boarding school surrounded by teenagers who are living in somewhat close quarters to an entire growth of Dementors. Believe me, yours is not the first nor last outburst this school will see."

Cari couldn't help but grin at that. "You might just have a point there," she admitted eventually. "Hopefully, someone else will have a dramatic breakdown and mine will fade into the background."

Sir Smethwyck – now standing in the middle of a group of disconcerted-looking hounds – cleared his throat. "I beg your pardon for the interruption, but I believe you are about to have some company, though whether friend or foe, I profess no knowledge."

It took Cari a moment to process his very formal speech, but tensed as she understood that someone was coming down the hall, and the knight didn't know how friendly they were. "Do we want to leave?" she asked Professor Lupin.

He only looked at her, amused. "I don't feel any particular need to do so. Do you?"

"Well, Sir Smethwyck said something about the Bloody Baron liking to haunt this part of the castle, and I've heard he especially hates Gryffindors…"

"Ah. Rest assured, Miss Romana. If it is the Bloody Baron, I'm sure we can figure out some way of convincing him that we are more trouble than we're worth, but I think our visitors aren't going to be quite so intimidating – though we probably shouldn't tell them that."

Cari frowned, but was prevented from asking further questions by her name being shouted down the large, echoing hall. She turned to find that Fred and George Weasley were approaching, George stuffing a large square of parchment into the pocket of his robes as they skidded to a halt in front of Cari and Professor Lupin.

"Finally," Fred wheezed. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Why did you run off like that?" George questioned next, following his twin's lead in ignoring the look Lupin was giving them.

Still not sure how she felt about the brothers, Cari stood and brushed off her robes before offering Professor Lupin a hand up off the floor. He shook his head in nonverbal refusal and stood without assistance, moving surprisingly well for someone who had been so reluctant to sit on the floor.

Sensing she could avoid the subject no longer, Cari fixed the Weasley twins with the firmest stare she could muster. "I really don't want to talk about it, thanks. Professor Lupin and I have already discussed all the pertinent parts of today's exercise, and I see no point in further exploration of what happened. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's probably something I'm supposed to be doing right now, and I'd better find out what."

Cari could feel their gazes on her back as she strode as quickly as possible down the long hall, but knew when they got distracted. "How did you find her so soon?"

Professor Lupin laughed. "Boys, you'll have to learn to listen to the paintings. They really do see all and know most everything there is to know about Hogwarts."

Shaking her head, Cari looked over at Sir Smethwyck, keeping pace with her through the paintings she was walking past. "So you're the reason Professor Lupin found me. Why did you go and get him, of all people?"

"Miss Romana, there were several people looking for you. Your Defense professor just happened to be the first one I came across."

"Oh," she said shortly, not willing to think too deeply about that somewhat-disconcerting revelation. "But the point still remains that it was a very high-handed thing for you to do! I had already told you that I wanted to be left alone because I needed the time to think."

"I apologize, but my concern for your well-being outweighed my ability to heed your wishes. You appeared to be in significant emotional distress. Something had to be done," he maintained firmly. Cari knew he had a point, but walked on in silence until his hesitant voice echoed out from a painting of a dark cave. "Miss Romana, are you very upset with me?"

She turned to find that the knight was standing in the foreground of the cave, shuffling about and looking very ashamed with his dark eyes held wide. Cari felt a sharp pang of guilt. Who knew how long it had been since Sir Smethwyck had been spoken to? And now, he was worried that he had just lost one of the probably-few people to know who he was, but didn't regret the actions he had taken to keep her safe. It warmed her heart even as it galled her to admit that she had been wrong, but she couldn't leave the miniature knight hanging.

"No, I'm not upset with you. I'm not thrilled about it, but I guess I can't fault you for loyalty." _Come to think of it, I never did read anything about his house affiliation, though I know he attended Hogwarts…_ "You weren't a Hufflepuff, were you?"

He drew back further into the cave, expression moving from gratitude to offense. "My dear girl, if you believe for one second that I was anything less than a Gryffindor, I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get the idea." Cari didn't mean to sound rude, but it was disheartening to meet yet another person who thought Gryffindor was the best possible house one could be sorted into. "I'll see you later, Sir Smethwyck. Thanks for everything today."

"It was my pleasure!" the ever-gallant knight shouted after her as she entered the Gryffindor common room. Cari shook her head and decided that some quiet time with a book would be her best option for putting the day behind her.

* * *

For a while, the days passed quietly. Cari settled into Hogwarts – as much as she could, anyway – as her life gained a new routine. Her classes were interesting enough. Some of them were a little too challenging for her sense of comfort, but that kept her interested enough to keep trying. Fortunately, the library was a solid resource for books on all kinds of subjects and Cari spent a huge chunk of her waking, non-class hours inside the cavernous room. Free time was a rare treat, but when some was obtained, Cari could be found chatting with her roommates or spending time with them and their respective crushes.

Yes, she had come to realize that Ginny and Hermione – while not as boy-crazy as Lydia – still had a fairly impressive set of crushes. She didn't envy either of them, but Cari couldn't help feeling a little worse for Hermione. Yes, Harry seemed to think only of Ginny as his best friend's little sister, but he was a little more concerned with the constant torment of the Dementors, the ever-unpleasant Malfoy, and the possibility of Voldemort trying to kill him once more, as this apparently wasn't a rare occurrence.

Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to have a soft spot for Ron. This was far more unfortunate because, even with a lack of other matters to focus on, it seemed that the young teen wasn't currently interested in dating at all. Cari had watched – wincing with secondhand embarrassment – as Hermione had tried time and again to subtly attract the redhead's attention, but Ron remained fairly oblivious. Cari felt for the younger girl, but she didn't have anything helpful to say even if Hermione had confided in her, which she hadn't. In fact, Cari hardly saw her curly-haired roommate until it was time to go to sleep, which naturally didn't leave much time for talking and heart-to-heart chats. Instead of getting involved where she clearly wasn't wanted, Cari focused on her quiet year at Hogwarts.

Or, at least, it had been quiet. The twins, while seeming to be fairly accepting of her choice to withdraw from their circle, still constantly asked how she was and made sure she was eating what they thought of as 'enough'. Of late, they had been especially irritating, though more with pranking stuff than pestering her about eating habits. One particular night, she felt they had crossed a line they ought not to have crossed and she felt no qualms about getting involved.

It was the tone that clued Cari in. Neville often lost things, especially his toad, but today, he sounded utterly panicked. "Trevor! Trevor! Where are you, Trevor?!" Cari's heart twisted at the sound of Neville's desperation and pain. Though Neville had a few friends, he had confided to Cari that there was a time Trevor was his only companion. The poor kid must be terrified at the thought of losing the wandering toad.

The sound of his hurt turned her sympathy to absolute fury when she found Fred and George crouched behind a corner, looking out in the other direction as she came up behind them. From her vantage point, she could see that George held a small box in his hand as Fred waved his wand, somehow enticing the toad to hop closer.

Held tightly in the grip of her wrath, Cari whipped out her wand, muttering, " _Wingardium Leviosa_." The accompanying wand movement was completed with a rough jerk at the end, causing the box to lurch up out of George's hand. Cari made it collide with his head first, then that of his twin. As both boys stood and turned in the same motion, but she had already walked around them, holding her new box. Cari waved her hands in a shooing motion to Trevor, urging him back to where Neville was calling. The toad stared at her, unimpressed, so she stepped forward, stomping her foot at it. The noise made Trevor flinch violently before turning to hop back toward his owner.

"What is wrong with you?"

"We almost had him!"

"Been trying to get a hold of that toad for years!"

Even in their frustration, the twins spoke in half-statements and shared sentences, but Cari was in no mood.

"You will leave Neville alone. I've seen you messing with him a lot lately and it stops now."

Expressions of delight crossed the twins' faces.

"And why-"

"-Would we do that?"

Cari crossed her arms over her chest. "Because he's picked on by everyone. Don't you think he has enough going on right now without having to worry about the two of you?" They didn't respond, simply continuing to smile at her. Losing her temper, she mumbled, "Brave Gryffindors. Yeah, right."

"Hang on," the twin she was pretty sure was George said. "How are we not brave? We're the definition of brave."

"Seriously?" No answer came from either boy. "Do you honestly think you're brave for bullying a boy who's bullied by everyone else? That's not brave. Do you know what true bravery is?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "Is this the part where you tell us that true bravery is standing up for Longbottom and defending him against everyone else? Is he your boyfriend or something? You two looked right chummy in the library last week."

Cari tamped down her irritation, taking care to shrug as if she hadn't a care in the world. "Actually, I was going to say that true bravery is messing with someone who could get you in trouble if you get caught. What's the worst that could happen if you're reported to be messing with Neville? You get a talking-to, if even that? If you're going to cause trouble, cause some real trouble. Go big or go home, children."

George smiled an odd little smile. "And what are you going to do for us if we leave your little boyfriend alone?"

Cari gave an unpleasant smile back, saying, "If you stop giving my _friend_ Neville trouble, I'll agree not to cause any trouble for you two."

Laughing, Fred asked, "What kind of trouble could you ever get us into? Straight-laced little Romana? I would be more scared of Longbottom himself!"

"Cari? Are we going to go study? That Transfiguration test is tomorrow." Cari looked over her shoulder to see Ginny approaching, observing their little group with a quizzical expression on her face.

"Be there in a second!" she called before turning back to the twins. "I have to cut our chat short, kids. I'll see you, but hopefully not too soon."

George laughed victoriously. "Yeah, retreat while you still can!"

"We knew you didn't actually have any leverage!" Fred crowed.

Cari leaned into the pair of them, getting close enough that they started to look disconcerted. " _Your_ mischief may have been managed, but _mine_ is just beginning." She stared at them for a moment, letting her words sink in, and turned on her heel, striding to where Ginny was waiting. Behind her, Cari could hear, "Do you think she really-"

"No, there's no way. We checked the Map!"

"Cor, Freddie… we forgot to add the Echowick students to the map. They're exchanges, so they're not in the system. None of-"

"None of them appear on the map! Oh, Merlin's bollocks…"

Cari chucked the box over a nearby railing, hearing a hollow clunking noise and a muffled, "Hey!" as it hit someone below. Cari winced and quickly began dragging Ginny away from the area. One of the twins, suddenly bold, called, "You can't say anything, Romana! You have no idea what's going on and no proof!"

Cari didn't even turn around when she said, "Don't sass me, Fred. You won't like the consequences."

There was a beat of silence and then the sound of feet walking quickly toward them. Fred and George were suddenly walking on either side of her, turned slightly to study her face. "How did you know that was me and not George? You weren't even looking at us." A sudden grin spread across his face. "Not that it would help most people anyway."

Cari rolled her eyes. "You two look similar and say and do the same things, but you actually are not the same person."

George gestured back and forth from himself to his brother. "Identical twins, remember? To most people, that's as good as being the same person!"

He seemed very proud of that fact, and the small part of Cari that was still mad over their treatment of Neville reared up. Looking back and forth with a mocking little grin on her face, she questioned, "Identical? I guess if you don't pay attention, then sure. I would have thought you two had noticed by now, but if not?" She let the silence hang for a moment before continuing, "Okay, my mistake. You gentlemen have a lovely day."

The twins stopped walking, matching expressions of confusion painted across their faces. Cari fought to keep her expression completely blank as Ginny looked over, but tried to pretend she wasn't. "Er… Cari? The twins really are identical. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes," Cari replied simply.

It took a moment for Ginny to process her odd statement. "Then why-?"

"They're freaked out right now. They think there's something about themselves that they haven't seen, something that separates them into two totally different people. It isn't true, of course. They're identical, but they'll spend the next few days assuring themselves that I don't know what I'm talking about. Those few days are going to be wonderfully quiet." She thought for a moment. "And actually, from now on, they'll forever be wondering if I'm right and there is something about them that distinguishes one from the other. It'll always be a lingering thought in the back of their heads. _What if?_ "

The pair continued on their path to the library, Ginny giving a low whistle. "That is a fairly intense plan. What did they do that peeved you off so badly?"

Cari couldn't help but smile as she replied, "They tried to take Neville's toad."

Ginny's eyes were wide. "Bit overkill, don't you think?"

Shrugging, Cari said, "I don't like bullies."

Ginny let out a loud laugh. "Yeah, I can definitely see how you're related to Kat."

So Ginny knew about the mysterious 'incident' as well? Maybe this was her chance to get the full story… "How so?" Cari asked, doing her best to sound utterly casual.

"Kat is pretty hardcore. She thinks that if someone slaps you, you should body slam them immediately. Not that it's a bad thing! It just makes her very intimidating and very tough. You don't want to mess with Kat." She cast a sidelong glance at Cari before adding, "Or with you."

This was likely the most flattering thing anyone had ever said about her, but it still wasn't exactly what Cari had been hoping for. "Hang on, how do you know Kat? How do any of you know Kat? She didn't go to Hogwarts, and it would have been way before your time anyway."

Ginny paused before the library doors. "Do you really not know anything about what your aunt did?" When Cari shook her head, Ginny drew them into a small alcove furnished with a bench. She settled onto the bench, crossing her legs comfortably. "Okay, if Kat hasn't told you anything about it, there's a reason, and I'm thinking that she probably wants to tell you herself. For now, let's just say that Kat played a prank here at Hogwarts. Bill was in his sixth year, Charlie was in… fourth or fifth, I don't remember which, and Percy was a first year. Long story short, Kat was caught. It was almost a huge problem. The Ministry wanted to prosecute Kat, but Dumbledore said no. He decided that she would have to spend the summer cleaning up the mess she had made here."

Cari, sensing a long story ahead, perched on the bench beside her roommate as Ginny continued. "The problem was that Kat didn't have a place to stay. Bill Floo'd Dad and Mum and explained the situation. Filch wanted Kat to stay here, but Mum knew immediately that it was a bad idea. Filch would have forced Kat to work all day and night until she had cleaned up everything and done any extra tasks he needed done. So anyway, Mum and Dad immediately offered for Kat to stay at the Burrow with us. Bill's friend John was already going to be staying here anyway, since he was one of the kids whose parents were killed in the war with You-Know-Who. Since he graduated that year, he had to leave the foster home he'd been staying in and didn't have anywhere to live. When my parents found out, they wouldn't let him say no. So John and Kat both ended up staying the summer with us.

"At first, we didn't see much of Kat. I don't remember that summer very well, but Mum said that Kat didn't like to be around the younger of us because we reminded her of a little niece and nephew she had never met." Ginny fixed Cari with a pointed glare and Cari blushed. "She warmed up to Mum first, then Bill, Charlie, and John. She and Dad hit it off as soon as he realized that she understood how a bunch of muggle stuff works. Eventually, Charlie, John, and Bill would go to Hogwarts every day to help Kat clean and they became pretty good friends. Kat did warm up to us, and she used to love to tell Ron and I stories. That's one of the few things I remember: she had the best stories! Anyway, between the four of them, it didn't take long to fix whatever Kat had messed up.

"Kat was going to leave once the work was done, but Mum found out that your grandparents had passed away and she couldn't stay with her brother because your mother is a muggle. Mum wouldn't let her leave until the end of the summer, when she had gotten an apartment in Chicago and a job lined up. I remember crying when Kat left, but she visited every once in a while. Since her Hogwarts prank involved the use of Floo powder, it's really hard for her to Floo anywhere. She has to go through both of the Ministries to get special permission and then give them the exact dates and times she'll be using the networks. Even with all of that, she would come back to the Burrow for a couple of weeks every summer." Ginny sighed wistfully. "Bill and Charlie would both try to take those weeks off and come home at the same time. John usually came along. It was so much fun!"

"It 'was' so much fun? Do they not come to see you anymore?"

Ginny shook her head. "They stopped a few years ago. Bill's career started to get too hard to leave and with Charlie in Romania, it was difficult to set up times. Then, the Ministries cracked down on how much Kat was using the Floo network and she couldn't come out to the Burrow. They were going to try one more time this past summer, but Kat sent a letter that she wouldn't be able to make it."

Cari groaned. "That was my fault. I had to… my dad wanted me to spend the summer with Kat and kind of sprung me on her. She canceled that plan because of me."

Shrugging, Ginny said, "It doesn't matter too much. Maybe they can try again this summer. If you're going to stay with Kat again, you could come along. If you want to, that is. Ron, the twins, and I all like you, so you're more than welcome."

Warmed by the casual offer, Cari fought not to smile like an idiot. "I would really like that."

Ginny stood. "Good. Though I don't think Mum will let us have people over if I fail all of my classes. Any chance we could go study now?"

Cari rose as well, following her impatient young friend into the library. It was nice to have friends. Amazing how much she had missed it.

* * *

Author's Note \- So, finally an explanation of The Incident and all the strange things that happen when Kat tries to use the Floo! Also, yes, I'm aware that literally no one asked for this explanation, but it's okay. I don't mind being the only one excited. Anyway! Apologies for the late post! Turns out the day really flies by when you're working twelve hours of it. Who knew, right? Anyway, reviews!

ghostcrab311 - I completely agree about the cruelty of exposing someone's personal fears to an entire class, so Lupin's apology was my way of addressing that. Honestly, I found it more believable that he would apologize than that such a deeply-personal person would think it's okay to publicly broadcast stuff like that, but that's neither here nor there. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the review!

Guest - I'm doing my best to keep everything updated on time, but obviously I don't always get it right. I am trying, though! I'm sorry about the tough times you're going through. I'm glad this story helps, even if just a bit, and I hope things improve soon! Keeping you in thought. :) Thanks for letting me know what you think!

Guess Who - Chapter Fifty was definitely an all-in moment, and I have to say that Cari's impulsiveness is one of the reasons that having her sorted into Gryffindor worked for me. You're exactly right in saying that she doesn't always think things through, especially when her emotions are involved. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you liked this update!

RebelliousPrince - Oh, my psychic reader... You're right, the projector screen would be a bit tricky, but I think about all of the excellent entertainment Hogwarts students would be missing out on and my heart hurts for them. I mean, they get magic, but imagine life without Marvel movies? Or Pirates of the Caribbean? I mean, it's just too sad to think about! Hope this installment wasn't too boring with your powers and thanks for the review!

Well, that pretty much wraps things up for this week! I really do apologize for the late posting. I know I've been missing (self-imposed) deadlines fairly often lately, but this is bad even by my standards. Sincerely, I will try better in the future. You deserve better. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you thought - even if you thought it was terrible - and I'll see you all next Monday!


	68. Halloween: Year Four

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, plots, etc. All rights to these things belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Halloween: Year Four

True to Cari's expectations, her clash with the Weasley twins was enough to keep them preoccupied for several weeks. They were never unpleasant, but they didn't put much effort into pranking and the entire school seemed slightly more relaxed in the meantime. Cari had even spotted a group of first-years walking through the halls without checking for trip wires or an impending bubble curse or some such mischief. There were several times Cari thought the professors were going to explode with expectations of reverse psychology, but for the most part, everyone appeared to be savoring the break.

In the meantime, Cari had been trying to branch out socially. She wanted to make more friends who weren't being coerced by her overly-protective aunt, though it was proving more difficult than she had hoped it would be. The other students seemed to be put off by her American schooling, her shady blood background, her intense studying habits, or some wonderful combination of the three. Unexpectedly, a breakthrough happened at the dinner table one Saturday evening in early October.

"So, Romana, how are you enjoying Hogwarts?"

Shocked that someone was actually speaking with her, Cari's head whipped over to find that the question had come from Katie Bell, the pretty Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Worried she had hesitated too long, Cari spoke quickly. "I like it okay, I guess. There are a few things that don't make sense, though."

"Like what?" Fred and George asked, settling down next to Katie, across the table from Cari.

Cari shrugged. "Just a couple of things. I mean, everything is so dark all of the time. I can hardly see to write with on parchment with my quill and ink. I'll be blind by the end of the year! I mean, have they never heard of fluorescent lighting?"

The twins, along with most of the table, stared at her blankly. Cari wore the same expression before turning to comment to the chuckling Bell, "Well, I was just joking, but I guess they never have."

Still laughing, Katie said succinctly, "Wizards. They're helpless, the lot of them."

Cari smiled in agreement, happy with the camaraderie even as Hermione frowned over at the twins. "Where have you two been?"

"Quidditch practice," George said offhandedly.

"Not that we should answer questions from someone who is missing more often than not," Fred added with a wink. Hermione reddened and fell silent, looking oddly nervous.

"Well, on a less uncomfortable note," Ron cut in, "Have you heard that they announced the date of the first Hogsmeade visit?"

"Halloween day, right?" Lee Jordan asked, leaning over from his spot next to Katie. "About time. too. I thought they might try to cancel the trips altogether this year, what with Black lurking about out there."

The table fell silent for a moment at the grim reminder of the crazed escaped convict currently stalking Harry. "Where is Harry, anyway?" Cari asked, remembering that she hadn't seen the black-haired boy all day.

"Showering, I'd expect," Fred said, seeming to barely refrain from rolling his eyes.

Katie shuffled a little further along the bench. "Yeah, what strange ideas about personal hygiene and cleaning up before sitting in close spaces with other students, especially when everyone's trying to eat…"

She stared pointedly at George, who grinned. "Nothing wrong with the musky smell of a man who's keeping himself fit." He stretched his arms up as if airing his armpits before reaching to wrap one arm around Katie's shoulders. She shoved at him playfully as Lee rolled his eyes and pinched the back of George's hand where it rested uncomfortably close to his face. George pulled back with a yelp and a glare, but conversation flowed on despite the little incident.

"So, Cari," Neville started. "Are you going to go to Hogsmeade with everyone else?"

Cari blinked slowly at the younger boy, trying desperately to remember someone ever talking about this before. "Uh, yeah. I guess. What is Hogsmeade again?"

"The wizarding village just outside of Hogwarts' gates," Ginny supplied gloomily from her seat next to Cari. "You can only go if you're in third year or up and if your parents signed a permission slip." She perked up slightly. "If you didn't know about, you probably don't have a slip, huh? That's okay; you can stay here at the castle with me! I'll be all alone."

Apparently over her earlier discomfort, Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, Gin. Cari has a signed permission slip already." The rest of the table turned to stare at her, Cari included. Hermione seemed surprised. "Ron and I waited after class one day to ask Professor McGonagall if there was anything to be done about Harry's and I thought we may as well ask about yours as well. Your Aunt Katherine already signed it and sent it back. It's been filed and you're free to go to Hogsmeade with the rest of us."

This revelation was met with cheers from the group and promises to show Cari around the wizarding community, though Cari couldn't help but notice that Ginny was back to being sulky. While everyone got into a fierce debate over the best sweets offered at one of the stores, Cari elbowed Ginny in the ribs and whispered, "Think of it this way: You and Harry, tucked away in the castle while all of his classmates are gone. Who better to spend time with than his only underclassman friend?"

Ginny didn't reply, but Cari saw her grinning on and off through the rest of the meal.

* * *

The days flew by until Halloween was nearly upon them. As the day grew closer and closer, Cari couldn't help but feel sorry for Harry. The Hogsmeade trip monopolized most of the conversations taking place at the castle and the poor boy grew more dejected every time it was mentioned. Cari wished fervently that there was some way to make sure he was included – and she wasn't the only one looking for a loophole – but it didn't seem to be possible.

Cari almost began to wish that the trip would be canceled or that there would be something to keep students in the castle – not only for Harry's sake, but her own. She was uncomfortable in large groups as a general rule and was almost guaranteed to be surrounded by her fellow students when most of Hogwarts descended on the small village. Besides that, she had an odd sinking feeling about that day. Normally, Halloween was one of her favorite days of the year, but this year… Shaking off the nerves as a sort of misplaced homesickness for Lydia and her party-planning, Cari tried instead to focus on the things she wanted to do and see.

There was, of course, a seemingly-set list of Hogwarts' student favorites: Honeydukes, the candy store, appeared to be a stop no one was willing to skip, and after hearing the description of some of the goods, Cari had no intention of missing out. Another hot topic of conversation was the best time to have lunch at the Three Broomsticks, which was _the_ place to get food and/or Butterbeer in Hogsmeade. Cari, having never heard of Butterbeer before, simply nodded in response to all of the people telling her she would love the beverage.

As well as the two main stops, everyone had a different suggestion on what else needed to be included in a 'proper' Hogsmeade trip. The twins suggested Zonko's – though they readily admitted that, as someone with very limited pranking needs, Cari might not do a lot of shopping there. However, if nothing else, she considered going so that she might be able to anticipate the twins' next prank after seeing what materials they had to work with.

Hermione highly recommended a trip to Tomes and Scrolls, the bookstore, waxing poetic about their supplementary research materials and abundance of 'light reading'. Neville, on the other hand, spoke fervently about an exotic plant shop called Dogweed and Deathcap. "You wouldn't believe it, Cari!" he had effused. "The whole place is wall-to-wall plants of all species and uses, and they all come with a booklet of instructions on how to care for them. Some of them are even sold seeding so that you can grow a whole new generation. Just think of the possibilities for crossbreeding!"

It seemed that Halloween would be a busy day for Cari. And so, with the excited buzzing in her head drowning out the tense sensations in her stomach, Cari finally drifted off to sleep on October 30th, ready for all the excitement and adventures that the next day would bring.

The next morning, Cari woke up, dressed with care, and made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The meal was spent with everyone chatting eagerly about the trip, making last-minute plans on where to go, deciding who was going with which group, and trying to ignore Harry, who obviously wanted to be anywhere else. Cari ended up staying at the table a little later than her classmates, mostly because she was trying to keep Ginny from pouting all day. She had promised to catch up eventually and soon rushed out of the doors in an effort to find her departing friends.

She had just walked into the Entrance Hall and scanned the students – lined up and waiting for Filch's permission to leave – as she searched for anyone she knew when Shadow had appeared in the air above her. He fell, screaming her name, his solid-looking body crashing violently into the floor. The worst was the sharp crack of his breaking neck, echoing horribly through the entrance hall.

Cari clapped both hands over her mouth in a white-knuckled grip to keep from letting out noise – any noise, whether it was a sob, a scream, or both. She stared down at Shadow's body, covered in the blood that had never left him in real life. As she looked on in horror, Shadow sat up, head cocked at an angle that was painful to see as he asked hollowly, "Why, Cari? Why did you have to kill me?" Her gasp was audible even through her hands and Shadow abruptly turned into Peeves, who flew up near the ceiling, cackling all the way.

The lined-up students in the entrance hall were staring at Cari, some in confusion, others in accusatory derision. Choking on hot tears, Cari sprinted up as many staircases as she could find until she could run no further. Tucked as far against the wall as she could get, she curled into a ball and wept.

When she finally grew collected enough to figure out her surroundings, Cari realized that she had no idea where she was. There was a small alcove pushing a rounded section out from the wall and this was where she was lying. To her pleased surprise, the floor was lined with comfortably plush carpet, a welcome change from the hard stone floors found in the majority of the castle. _Says a lot about my life lately that I've experienced most of the flooring options Hogwarts has available,_ she thought morosely. Suddenly weary beyond all reason, Cari settled herself down against the curved wall of her niche and dropped into the grey space somewhere between sleep and a trance.

It was several hours later when she came back to herself. The sky outside of the small window above her had turned to a dark blue-purple, and she knew the sun was almost set and the Halloween feast was about to begin. She wasn't shocked that no one had come to find her. After all, no one knew where she had gone or even that she had gone. And – if she was being honest with herself – that was the way she preferred things. Better that she alienate people by disappearing than tell them she was responsible for murdering one of her best friends and the boy who had just professed his feelings towards her.

Cari sighed. Much as she had looked forward to the celebration earlier in the day, she found she was disinterested in going now. More than anything, Cari just wanted to be comfortably settled in the dormitory. As soon as she had struggled to her feet, she began trudging down the stairs until she came to a hallway she was familiar with, then made her way slowly toward the Gryffindor common room.

Just around the corner from the Fat Lady's portrait, Cari came to a sudden halt, transfixed by the sight of the gigantic black dog in front of her. She knew that students were allowed pets, but they were usually confined to small animals: rats, toads, cats, and the like. Owls were generally the largest pets commonly seen around the school, but here she was, face-to-snout with a black dog the size of a small pony.

Fortunately, the animal seemed to be fairly friendly. In fact, as she cautiously drew closer – always mindful of the dangers of approaching a strange animal – the dog dropped to the floor and lounged on its back. Its – no, definitely a boy dog - _his_ mouth fell open as the dog grinned up at Cari, pink tongue lolling out between his sharp white teeth. She bent to pat his stomach, but he moved in a threatening direction and she pulled back. Immediately, he sat up and offered the top of his head.

Hesitantly, Cari began scratching the dog's head, thinking longingly of all the times she had begged for a pet but been refused because of Daniel's allergy to animal dander. She had always thought she would've preferred a cat – and her experiences with Crookshanks had somewhat confirmed this – but the dog was a dream to play with! He was bouncy and exuberant, and before long, Cari found herself talking to the large animal, throwing out all of the same stereotypical baby babble people always spout to animals:

"What a pretty boy! Yeah, you are… You're a good dog!" The dog panted up at her, making her smile as she added, "And so smart, too! Do you want to play or do you want scratches?"

The dog cocked his head to the side, almost seeming to consider this conundrum, then flopped onto his back on the floor, this time allowing her to gingerly pat his stomach. After she was sure he wasn't going to attack her, Cari smoothed a hand down his soft, dark fur, but drew back with a sudden gasp. "Poor thing! You're skin and bones! How on earth did you manage that in a castle filled with food and students who would gladly share it with you?"

Standing upright once more, Cari cast a quick spell Hermione had taught her just in case she ever caught sight of the elusive Crookshanks. It was almost a summoning charm, but it drew specifically from Hermione's bag of cat food upstairs and transported it to wherever the caster stood. At the appearance of the dried brown pellets of food, the dog leapt to his feet, but only nosed at the pile for a moment before settling back onto the floor, looking disappointed.

"Sorry," Cari muttered, cheeks red. "I know it's cat food. I guess I thought that wouldn't make a difference…" Abruptly, she felt like slapping herself on the forehead. "But I live in a freaking castle with magical kitchens manned by wonderfully helpful staff. Give me one second to get cleaned up and I'll take you to get some real food."

She moved to walk toward the common room, but the dog laid a gentle paw on the top of her foot. "Sorry, dog. I'll just be a second." He settled his head down between his forepaws and stared up at her, soulful eyes pleading. Cari held eye contact for a long moment before the dog let out a soft, pitiful whine and she gave in immediately. "Fine. Let's just go now. I guess I can haul all of my stuff down with me."

The dog immediately jumped up and trotted along after her and Cari rolled her eyes. _I just got manipulated by a dog._ Casting a sidelong glance at the large animal bounding happily beside her, Cari couldn't help but notice the continued change in his demeanor. Exasperated, she muttered, "Are you serious, dog?"

The strange animal stopped short, staring at her intently for a moment, then gave two short barks that echoed down the hallway. Frantically, Cari shushed him. "Be quiet! Are you crazy? I don't know how you're here right now, but if someone hears you… Let's just say, not only will you not have a home, but I could be in trouble, too. And believe me, I have more than enough trouble finding a place to live without having been kicked out of Hogwarts. So, quiet or you're on your own."

Trying to ignore the unsettling suspicion that the dog had just nodded at her, Cari efficiently led the way to the kitchens, careful to avoid the Entrance Hall or any students who might be leaving the Halloween Feast a little earlier than the norm.

They made it to the kitchens unnoticed and – after a small hesitation on Cari's part – they entered the crowded, cavernous room. Despite the flurries of frantic motion all through the kitchens, Cari and her new friend were noticed almost immediately. A small form rushed over to them, face beaming wide enough that it looked painful.

"Miss Romana! What can Ayu do for you? And who is this?"

Cari smiled at the house elf, kneeling to be more on level with him and the dog. "Hi, Ayu! Great to see you again! This is… Well, I figure he probably belongs to someone, so I haven't bothered giving him a name. But this is my friend the dog. He was wandering around upstairs and, judging by the state of his ribs, I would say he's not doing so well, food-wise." Suddenly a little unsure of the hygiene implications of feeding a dog in the Hogwarts kitchen, Cari cleared her throat. "Is there anything we could do about that?"

"Of course," Ayu squeaked excitedly. "Glad to be of service, Miss Romana! Is there anything you want Ayu to try giving him first?"

Forcibly reminded of her kitchen adventure with the twins at the beginning of the year, she gave a short laugh. "Well, let's start with normal dog-type food. How about a steak?" She eyed the dog. _Are dogs supposed to have raw meat or cooked?_ She just didn't know. "If it's all the same to you, could we have a steak cut in half, one half cooked and the other raw? And maybe a chicken breast prepared the same way?"

Ayu gave a short bow and disappeared into the rush of the kitchen. Still kneeling, Cari turned to fix the dog with a stern look. "I hope you feel as lucky as you are, my friend. The kitchen is far nicer than they need to be, especially where mongrels are concerned." The black dog pulled his tongue back into his mouth and fixed her with a glare she could only describe as 'offended' – ridiculous coming from a dog. Laughing, she rubbed the top of his head. "Calm down, you sensitive thing! I was talking about myself. For all I know, you have better bloodlines than I do."

Groaning, she eased back to sit on the floor. Their little corner was secluded enough to be out of the bustling house elves' way while still being able to see Ayu whenever he came back. Cari hummed a little to herself as she picked at the floor, but was pulled from her reverie when the dog rested his oddly heavy head on her knee. "Needy," she sighed at him, but petted his soft fur anyway.

Eventually, Ayu came back, juggling four bowls. Cari jumped up to help him, but he waved her away. "Please stay comfortable, Miss Romana. Ayu is used to doing things like this. Now, Mr. Dog," he started as he set the bowls on the floor, arranging them carefully. "These two are the steak and these two are the chicken. The cooked meats are more in the middle and the raw ones are out toward the edges. Whichever you like best, Ayu will make more of."

As the dog began nosing at the bowls, Cari stared at Ayu curiously. "Why are you talking to him like that? You almost make it seem like he can understand you."

Ayu looked confused. "Because you do, Miss Romana. You talk to him like he knows what you are saying. Who is Ayu to say that he can't? Ayu has seen many stranger things while working in this castle, miss."

Cari could only nod at that, but Ayu didn't seem to be looking for a response. "It looks like your friend prefers the cooked steak. Ayu will get him some more."

Blinking at the abrupt change of subject, Cari was caught off guard and shouted, "Thanks, Ayu!" at his rapidly-retreating back. She glanced at the dog, who was licking half-heartedly at the chicken. "Oh, calm down. If you don't want the chicken, don't eat it. He'll bring you more steak in just a minute."

Ignoring her, the dog licked the bottom of the bowl that had held the steak and whined sadly. Cari rolled her eyes, but before she could admonish him once more, another house elf approached. "Miss Romana!"

"Tricks! How are you doing?" Cari had to admit that she was a little taken aback at the rush of warmth filling her as the tiny creature approached her.

"Very well, miss! Tricks heard you were here with a friend. Is everything okay? Is your sodie still good?" Tricks' long ears twitched nervously and Cari hastened to assure her.

"Yes, definitely! It's come in handy more times than I can count. Thank you again for it!"

"Tricks is glad, Miss Romana! And where is your friend? Tricks would be glad to help them, too."

Cari patted the dog's head, bringing Tricks' attention to him laying by her side. "Here he is. I found him wandering a hallway upstairs. He looked like he could use a decent meal, so I brought him down here for one." The small house elf frowned, studying the large animal, and Cari grew nervous. "I hope it's okay that he's in here."

"Oh, yes. There is no problem, except…" She trailed off, staying silent until Cari gently cleared her throat. "My apologies, miss. There used to be a dog around here, one that looked much like your friend. But that was very long ago."

Cari forced a shrug that felt far too lighthearted for the serious atmosphere. "Maybe that one had puppies. This dog could be a descendent or something."

Tricks stared down at the dog, dark gaze inscrutable. "It is possible," she agreed eventually. "The dog I knew had a strange marking, just above the ankle of his rear left paw…"

The house elf moved as though she was going to walk around the dog to check, but he lurched back defensively at the sudden movement. A low, threatening growl trickled from his mouth, top lip drawing upward to expose his suddenly sharp-looking teeth.

Eager to dispel the sudden tension, Cari moved between them, facing Tricks even as she prayed that the dog wasn't going to sink teeth into her back instead. "Hey, Tricks, I just remembered that I skipped dinner tonight. Is there any chance there are any leftovers from the feast that I could have? I'm starving!"

It was a ridiculous question, of course. She could literally see the mounds of food heaped all over the kitchen, but it made Tricks stop what she was doing with the dog and take a quick order from Cari before hurrying off to put a plate together. She had almost looked offended at Cari's offer to get her own food, so Cari hadn't insisted.

When the house elf had moved out of earshot, Cari frowned severely down at the now-relaxed canine at her side. "Are you insane, dog? She wasn't going to hurt you. She just wanted to look at your back leg. Why did you act like you were going to attack her?"

Before she could do something stupid, like insist on an answer, Ayu came back over. He was holding a plate with an enormous steak taking up most of the surface, which he set carefully on the floor. "Here you are, miss's friend. Enjoy."

Feeling bad about the way the elves had been waiting on her and the dog, Cari asked, "Are you sure you don't want to sit with us for a while, Ayu?"

The elf shook his head hard enough to make his ears flap. "No, thank you, miss! Ayu has much work that needs done."

"Oh. Sorry. We'll stop distracting you, but thanks for everything!" Ayu gave a deep bow and drew away, rejoining the chaos in the kitchen, and this time, didn't return. Cari stared after him, lost in thought as the dog eagerly ripped at his steak until only a few shreds of meat lay scattered across the white plate.

Tricks came back to where Cari sat, hands shaking as she held out a closed container. Cari took it but couldn't tear her gaze away from the elf's tense face. "Tricks? What is it? What's wrong?"

In a voice even smaller than usual, Tricks stuttered, "Miss, th-there has been an inc-incident-"

Before she could finish her explanation, Fred and George burst into the kitchens, George tucking a grubby square of parchment into a pocket.

"Cari!"

"Come on, Cari!"

"We have to go. Now!"

Bewildered as ever, Cari could only stare up at them. "What are you guys talking about? What is this incident that happened? Is anyone hurt?"

George crouched beside her. "No, no one is hurt. But the castle is on high alert right now. Everyone is gathering in the Great Hall. We snuck away before anyone noticed you're gone, but they will before too much longer, and trust me, you do _not_ want detention with McGonagall. If we hurry, we can join up with everyone else with no one the wiser. But we have to leave _now_."

Fred frowned at her. "Where did you pick up a dog?"

"Maybe not the focus right now, twin o'mine," George admonished.

"Right. We'll have to leave him behind, though. He'll stand out too much."

"Yeah, I know," Cari cut in. She patted the dog's head, still a little dazed by the turn of events. "It was nice meeting you, dog. Thanks for keeping me company. At least you got a halfway decent meal out of it, right?"

She passed the container of food up to George and stood carefully. "Can we leave the door open a little bit so he can get out of the kitchens?"

George shrugged. "He looks ready to leave right now, actually."

Sure enough, the dog was bounding toward the door, stopping once every few leaps to shoot them an impatient look. The three hurried over to the door and exited. The dog dashed off in the opposite direction, but not before giving Cari's hand a short lick. She grinned after him until the twins began dragging her toward the Great Hall.

As they walked, enough of the fog cleared for Cari to realize that she had never asked what incident had occurred. "So, what actually happened to make everyone meet in the Great Hall? Don't they usually send us all to our dormitories?"

"That's the last place they want us to be," Fred said grimly.

"For Gryffindors at least. One of us, anyway," George added.

"Does one of you want to give me an explanation? It's going to look pretty stupid if I join everyone else just to be the only one who doesn't know what happened."

The answer, when it came, stunned her. "Sirius Black is inside Hogwarts."

* * *

Author's Note \- Dun, dun, duuuunnnnn... Just kidding. Having read the _Harry Potter_ series takes a lot of the guesswork out of this for you guys, huh? Hard to be worked up about Sirius Black when you know he's just looking for Peter Pettigrew. HUGE shoutout to one of my Guest reviewers on Chapter 65! You straight-up called this so exactly that it made me nervous. Wish I knew your name to congratulate you personally, but you know who you are. :) And speaking of reviews:

ghostcrab311 - Ahhhh, I am so embarrassed by that typo! You know you're writing too fast when... Wish I could say that's the first time it's happened. Thanks for the sharp eye! I have to admit that the twins are my favorite characters, but they do have a tendency to be a little harsh, more wrapped up in the prank than the person they're pranking. Thanks for the review and I hope you liked the chapter!

G - Thank you so much for the compliment and the review. Your encouragement is very appreciated!

Also, not to brag, but I'm sure you all notice that this chapter is coming out semi-on time. I'm trying, guys! Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you back here next Monday to see Hogwarts in distress!


	69. Safety In Numbers

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, plots, characters, settings, etc. The rights to these aspects belong solely to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Safety In Numbers

Cari couldn't help the slight shaking in her voice as she repeated, "Si- Sirius Black is in Hogwarts? How?"

"How should we know?" George asked with a shrug that belied the tension she could see in his shoulders.

"All we know is that he somehow got past the dementors," Fred contributed.

"But how do they know he's actually here? I mean, did someone see him?"

"Nah, but the Fat Lady's portrait was ripped to shreds."

Cari gaped. "The Fat Lady is dead?!"

"What? No!" Fred rushed out, horrified.

"Not even sure she can die, to be honest," George mused. "I mean, she's a painting. Not really alive in the first place, is she?"

"Not the point, Georgie-boy," Fred asserted with a pointed glance in Cari's direction. "The important thing is that everyone is safe."

"Yeah. Well, as safe as can be with McGonagall keeping eyes on us, anyway. She's going to be right pissed if she finds out we left without adult supervision."

Suddenly pulled back into her own head, Cari stared between the two of them and would have stopped walking if they didn't have firm grips on her. "Wait a minute. No one knew where I was. How did you two find me?"

"We used the map, of course," George said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The map," Cari repeated blankly.

Suddenly wearing identical grins, the twins stared at each other over her head. "Sounds to me like she doesn't know about the map, Gred."

"I believe you might have it right, Forge. Isn't that strange?"

"It is indeed. Seemed like she knew all about it a couple of weeks ago."

"Right you are! Oh, Licaria…" Fred drew out, leaning down to get a good look at her face. She did her best to look innocent rather than confused, but wasn't sure it was working. "You wouldn't happen to have been bluffing your way around us, would you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, of course you do!" George said encouragingly. "You know, back when we almost got possession of Neville's toad, and you said something about whether our mischief was managed?"

"You remember that, surely," Fred agreed.

"Nope, not a clue what you're talking about. Must not have been very important." A small part of Cari was urging her to confess and be honest with the twins, but the larger part of her was more concerned with self-preservation - and refusing to let the twins get the better of her.

"That's too bad, isn't it?"

"A real shame."

"We would have shown you something really cool…"

"Something you'd never see anywhere else."

"Something you'll probably never get another chance to see."

In the end, Cari's curiosity won out over everything else. Adages about curiosity and cats ringing in her head, Cari sighed. "Fine, I admit it. I was angry about the way you kept messing with Neville and saw a chance to get even with you. Now, what is the map and what does it have to do with mischief?"

Fred laughed so hard he had to hold his side. "Did you hear that, George?"

"What does it have to do with mischief?" he crowed back, sounding equally amused by her ignorance. "Oh, Cari," he sighed, wiping away an imaginary tear.

"Such endearing innocence," Fred sighed, ruffling her hair.

Cari smacked his hand away and glared up at them. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me, don't. Just stop with the teasing." Both boys looked completely unrepentant and Cari frowned. "Or I can just find my own way back to the Great Hall."

"Don't be like that, Romana," George smirked. "We'll show you exactly what we're talking about if you give a man a moment."

"And swear that this will forever be a secret between the three of us," Fred added. "Otherwise, this caring and supportive gesture between friends will turn into a daring rescue mission for the chronically-rebellious Licaria Romana."

"Fine," Cari huffed. "It'll be our secret. Forever."

"Wonderful!" George pulled the same grubby square of parchment from his pocket that she had seen put there earlier and rested the tip of his wand against it. Loudly, he announced, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

Cari could only watch as, before her disbelieving eyes, lines began to trace steadily across the page, weaving and interconnecting until George was left holding a map of sorts. "This," Fred said, sounding oddly like a proud father, "is the Marauders' Map!"

"So… it's just a map of the castle?"

"A- a- Just a-" George gasped and staggered back, clutching at his heart.

Fred snatched the map from his brother's hand and cradled it lovingly, glaring at Cari. "How dare you? This isn't just a map! It's so much more!"

Sick of the games, Cari rolled her eyes. "Ah, sentimental value. Not something you see much with maps."

"Here, look," George insisted, miraculously recovered from his heart attack. "Look closely and you'll see why this map is our most prized possession."

Deciding to humor them by playing along, Cari leaned in and studied a section of the map. _That's weird. There are little footprints, right in the middle of the hall with Flitwick's name written next to them. Is that supposed to mean something?_ As she watched, the little footprints began to move, pausing here and there, presumably tracing where the Charms professor was checking the empty classrooms.

Knowing that a reaction was what the twins fed off of, Cari kept her face carefully blank as she straightened once more. "Ah. Well, that's certainly interesting. Assuming this is accurate, we'd better get moving before Sprout gets here. She's back by the kitchens now and seems to be very thorough."

"Nice try, Romana," Fred gloated. "We know you're just as stunned as we were. You played it pretty cool, but your face went dead white when you realized the magnitude of this… this… wonder!"

Deciding to drop the pretense, Cari sighed and met both pairs of eyes in turn. "Okay, fine. It's fantastic and dangerous and really, really cool. But I have to ask: why aren't you looking for Sirius Black with it?"

"Believe us we've tried," George said through gritted teeth.

"We looked all over the bloody thing, but he's not anywhere on it," Fred tacked on, sounding just as frustrated as his twin.

"Right. He must have something protecting him. Something strong. The map shows everyone in Hogwarts. Everyone, no exceptions."

Cari snorted. "Really? Because I think I remember something about Echowick students and how they don't show up on your map unless they're specially added to it."

Fred glared. "That's different! Hogwarts has never had an exchange program before. It makes perfect sense that random students wouldn't be keyed in without someone specifically wanting it to happen."

"Anyway," George cut in, "Black's not an exchange student, is he? He's definitely an ex-student and should show up on the map."

"Really? Sirius Black went to Hogwarts?" Cari couldn't help her surprise. It was one thing to be a homicidal maniac, but quite another for said maniac to be a real person with an actual past. "Guess it shouldn't be a surprise. He must have been here at some point if he knew where the Fat Lady's portrait was."

It took a moment, but eventually, Cari noticed the twins' tense posture and began putting pieces together. "Hang on… I thought only Gryffindors know where the entrance is?"

"That's right," George said grimly.

The group walked in silence for a moment before Cari broke it with a low whistle. "Wow. You just don't think of Gryffindors being the ones to go bad."

"Happens more often than you'd think," Fred said in a dark voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Anyone can turn up bad," George said quietly. "Even people from the best families, the most light magic-based houses, the happiest surroundings… There's nothing to say for certain that any of that will keep you from doing things you shouldn't."

"Yeah," Fred added gloomily. "Just look at Percy."

"Per- You guys are dumb."

George shrugged unrepentantly. "Had to lighten the mood somehow. We're almost to the Great Hall now."

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "Plenty of stress and fear in there. We don't need yours added to it."

"Chivalrous."

"Gryffindor," they both shot back, wearing identical smirks.

Cari rolled her eyes and stepped into the Great Hall as carefully as possible. Fortunately, the room was in such utter chaos that no one noticed the latecomers. A roar of chatter greeted them, interspersed with a number of students who looked a little on the panicked side and a few who were even crying.

While Cari had been silently observing the room, Hermione had sidled up next to her and was surveying the frightened students with an expression on her face that looked a lot like contempt. "Ridiculous, isn't it?" she asked, voice dripping with derision.

Cari shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're easily scared and this is the first time they've faced a crisis without mommy and daddy nearby. I had to deal with people like that a lot back in Echowick."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well, in any case, none of them have the right to be scared. If anyone should be worried, it should be Harry, and he's fine."

They both turned to look at the scarred third-year and even Cari had to admit that he looked unruffled, fighting good-naturedly with Ron about who should get the better spot for their sleeping bag - though what exactly constituted a 'better' spot, Cari couldn't be certain. That was the least of Cari's questions, however.

"Uh, I'm sorry, Hermione, but why should Harry be more freaked out than anyone else?"

Hermione stared at Cari as if she had gone insane. "Don't you know about Harry and Sirius Black?"

Fighting the urge to be sarcastic, Cari just shook her head. "No, I don't. Care to explain?"

"Back when Harry's parents were still alive, they asked Sirius Black to be Harry's godfather. Now, no one has done a good job at explaining what happened - and I don't want to pry because it's a bit of a sensitive topic - but Black was a major factor in the death of Harry's parents. The prevailing theory is that Black broke out of Azkaban to hunt down Harry and finish the job once and for all."

"Oh, wow. That- that's horrible!" This was such an understatement that it sounded insincere, though Cari meant it with every fiber of her being. "Is that why everyone's been keeping such a close eye on Harry all year?"

Hermione eyed the older girl. "Yes. Why did you think they were?"

"Well, in two years, you guys have made two trips into the Forbidden Forest, fought Voldemort twice, and I think I remember hearing something about a flying car."

"FIrst off, I was only involved in some of those, mostly against my wi-"

"The flying car! Brilliant, that was!"

"One of the few good things Ronniekins has ever done, bless him."

Hermione sighed irritably. "What do you two need?"

The twins looked thoughtful. "A couple Galleons-" Fred mused.

"Some help on a Potions assignment that's going to be due soon-" George gave what he obviously thought was a dashing grin.

Fred nodded as he added, "And I wouldn't say 'no' to a chocolate frog-"

"But we really just came for Cari," the twins finished up together.

"Why?" Cari and Hermione asked simultaneously, suspicion obvious in both of their voices.

The twins glanced at each other for a long moment before turning back to the girls. "Don't do that," George said warningly. "That's our thing."

"Blimey, that was weird," Fred complained with a shiver. "If anyone's going to say the same thing at the same time with the same voice, it better be the two blokes with the matching faces, yeah?"

After allowing herself a small grin exchanged with Hermione, Cari turned back to the twins. "What's going on that I need to go with you?"

"McGonagall is going around, checking people off some list she's got. We should probably stay nearby so we can make our excuses she asks anything uncomfortable," George explained.

"Trust us," Fred asked with a wink and an untrustworthy smirk.

Throwing a longsuffering look in Hermione's direction, Cari reluctantly followed Fred and George to a spot where they would, as claimed by the twins, not look too suspicious, but still be approached by Professor McGonagall relatively quickly. Doubtful as she was, Cari had to admit that the troublesome boys were right.

The Head of Gryffindor house came up to them, nodded shortly, and studied each in turn. "Weasley. Weasley. Miss Romana."

"Well, at least you're polite to one of us!" George started jokingly.

Fred leaned forward slightly, a mockingly polite smile on his lips as he finished, "Eh, Minnie-G?"

Professor McGonagall sniffed disapprovingly and looked down her nose at the pair. "You will be addressed with respect when you prove yourself worthy of it."

"Ouch," Cari muttered to herself as the twins laughed and walked away, though she noticed that they didn't go far.

Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall's eyes were twinkling at Cari. "You have to be a tad stern with those two to keep them from going over the line - far over, in most cases - but I don't know why I'm telling you this. From the stories floating around Hogwarts, you very well know how to handle those two."

Cari flushed, a little embarrassed that the professor had heard about her difficulties with the Weasley twins. "Sometimes, you have to be more than a 'tad' stern."

"It has been known to happen," she agreed, a smile playing around her mouth. The expression faded quickly as she frowned, scrutinizing Cari once more. "Miss Romana, I've been meaning to ask you, where were you today? I haven't seen much of you, though Mr. Filch tells me you didn't go to Hogsmeade with your classmates."

If Cari's face hadn't been red before, it surely was now. "Ah, well… There was a bit of an incident this morning."

"Ah, yes," the professor interrupted. "I heard about the way Peeves harassed you. Miss Romana, I am truly sorry that he behaved that way towards you. It is unacceptable, but Peeves has a nasty tendency to only listen to the Headmaster."

"Yeah, but h- how did you know about that?"

One side of Professor McGonagall's mouth twisted upward. "One cannot work in a school - magical or no - and not hear all of the current gossip. Now, I have it on good authority that Peeves watches many of the Defense Against the Dark Arts to get material for his jokes on students. It isn't a practice we endorse, but it is very difficult to prevent."

Cari desperately wanted to ask how Peeves knew to mimic Shadow - how he knew about Shadow in the first place - but she didn't want to talk about it, especially with the imposing woman. Instead, she just cleared her throat. "Did Peeves volunteer all of this information?"

If she didn't know better, Cari would say that McGonagall snorted. "No, Peeves usually doesn't volunteer much. It was quite a process to get this information, actually. Professor Dumbledore had to ask the Bloody Baron to find out as a personal favor. The Bloody Baron is the only one who can get Peeves to do anything, after all."

"Of course," Cari agreed numbly. "If that's all, Professor, I'd probably get back to everyone if I don't want to be stuck with the worst sleeping spot."

"Yes, go ahead. I will be in the area should you need anything."

The professor turned away and the twins fell into step with Cari as she moved back toward the spot occupied by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "How did you do that?"

"What, have a normal conversation with a teacher? Well, my typical method starts with doing nothing wrong. That's also where it ends."

"Doing nothing wrong, like skipping dinner?"

"Hiding in hallways?"

"Feeding strange dogs?"

"Speaking of, Romana, maybe it was a bad idea for us to have shown you the kitchens," George pondered with a grin.

"Yeah, covering up for your constant misbehavior seems like it's going to be a big job," Fred agreed with a chuckle.

Cari just rolled her eyes and kept walking. About halfway across the quadrant claimed by Gryffindor, something occurred to her. "Didn't everyone pack a change of clothes or something? I didn't bring anything, obviously."

Both twins made silly faces at her, Fred even going so far as to knock on her head like it was a door. "This doesn't sound hollow, but maybe it is. Think about it, Romana."

Cari slapped his arm away. "What are you talking about? Everyone has a bag."

George snorted. "What, you think everyone just happens to have the exact same matching bag lying around? No. Gryffindors couldn't get into the common room with what happened to the Fat Lady, so all the bags are Hogwarts-issued."

"Best of the best," Fred cheered encouragingly. "Infirmary-style pajamas, paper-thin mats, tissue paper blankets-"

"Don't forget the cloth-covered bricks they call pillows."

"Ah, yes. Can't forget about them, can we? They'll be imprinted on all of our faces by tomorrow morning, eh?"

"You guys are so dramatic," Cari sighed. "You're fifth-years. Shouldn't you have learned some kind of a padding spell by now that you could use to make yourselves more comfortable?"

"That's a pretty fair point, Romana," George mused.

"Yeah, maybe we'll do just that," Fred agreed thoughtfully.

"And, you know, if you wanted to help out a friendly fourth-year, that would be acceptable, too." They both just looked at her and Cari sighed. "What spell are you going to use?"

"Oh, no idea," Fred admitted.

George shrugged. "We were just going to ask Hermione."

"If anyone would know-"

"-it would be her."

"Wow. You guys are awful!" At the same time, Cari had an idea that was beautifully twisted. As suddenly as she could manage, she sprinted off to a surprised-looking Hermione and began whispering frantically in her ear. The bushy-haired third-year shared a mischievous smirk with Cari and waited patiently until the twins made their request.

"Of course I know a spell for that," she said airily. "But there are, of course, conditions."

"Of course," George agreed sagely. "What do you want us to do for you?"

"Prank someone?"

"Jinx Malfoy?"

"Tell our git of a brother to leave you alone?"

"No!" Hermione burst, looking a little pink. The twins smirked, but their faces were completely overshadowed by the evil smile she gave them. "I'll give you the spell you need, but only if you agree to charm the bedroll of every Gryffindor who can't do it themselves… without pranking them! If I hear about you planting so much as a tickling charm, I'll make sure the next prank you pull goes horribly wrong."

Fred and George groaned and complained, but they agreed to Hermione's terms and helped out every student fifth year or below before Oliver Wood jokingly asked them to fix his bedroll. For his trouble, the Quidditch Captain got multiple jokes about being delicate and a bedroll as thick as one of the dining tables was tall. He would later claim that it was the best night of sleep he had ever gotten.

The twins worked their way around in a pattern that meant they would end up back where the group was standing. Hermione had already charmed her bedroll and quietly taught the spell to Ginny and Cari, so it was only the boys who potentially needed help. George graciously offered to help Harry - who accepted with thanks - while Fred just stood and stared at Ron, giving an oddly chilling grin. The girls watched as he silently dared his younger brother to ask for help. Ron didn't, of course, but when he settled down against the floor, it was with much sighing and grumbling. Hermione made it through roughly three minutes before muttering the charm just a tad forcefully, propelling Ron nearly six inches into the air on his now massively-oversized bedroll.

Slowly, the chattering in the Great Hall began to fade as students dropped off, one by one, into slumber. The Gryffindor section took a little longer to settle than the others, but they had quite a shock and most of the lions seemed to vacillate between fear and rage. More than once during the evening, Cari had noticed a few huddled students whispering angrily amongst themselves and listing things to the others, but none of them put her more on edge than Fred and George. Despite their usual happy-go-lucky manner, there was a cold resolution in their eyes that made her wary. When the twins finally laid down and at least pretended to sleep, Cari cast the most subtle periphery charms she could manage without anyone getting suspicious.

Just after midnight, Cari's wand buzzed, letting out the softest high-pitched whistle imaginable. She jerked, but was careful not to sit up and let anyone know she was awake. Instead, she blinked up into the dusky ceiling, lit by candles which had obligingly dimmed when everyone went to sleep. As soon as she could manage, Cari turned to her side, where she could surreptitiously look over at where the twins had been sleeping. Both bedrolls were empty, though some effort had been made to cover up this fact.

Moving as soundlessly as possible, Cari crawled across the short distance between her spot and theirs and began looking for any hint of where they had gone. There was a small bottle half-concealed under George's pillow, but it was empty - at least, at first glance. When Cari carefully studied it, she found that a few drops of some liquid still clung to the bottom of the glass container.

 _There's a spell for replicating liquid, isn't there?_ She frantically wracked her brain, but Cari could only think of _Geminio_. She tried it and ended up with only a duplicated bottle. After a soft noise of frustration, she came up with a different plan. Gingerly pointing her wand into the open mouth of the bottle, she whispered the spell again. Thankfully, the liquid seemed to increase. She used _Geminio_ until she finally had filled nearly half of the bottle, and - praying she wasn't about to fall victim to some truly convoluted prank - drank the contents.

There was almost no taste - other than a slight, peachy buzz - and she didn't feel any different, but that didn't necessarily mean that nothing had happened, especially when the twins were involved. As many had found out the hard way, Fred and George were experts at time-lapse potions that took effect hours after they were administered. It made tracing pranks back to them extremely difficult, especially when it came time to prove things.

After Cari had waited for a few minutes with no apparent effect, she decided that she couldn't waste any more time. She put her bedroll back together as much as possible to make her absence less obvious, watched as the patrolling teacher walked past the Gryffindor section and over toward the Ravenclaws, and moved surreptitiously toward the door to the Entrance Hall.

As soon as she stepped through the doorway, she could hear the whispers of Fred and George - plotting their next move, no doubt - who seemed extraordinarily unconcerned with the patrolling Flitwick. She walked up to them without attracting too much notice and whispered, "What are you guys doing?"

To their credit, neither of the twins made any noise at her question. George jumped violently and sprung away reflexively while Fred whipped around and raised his fists. Cari did her best 'harmless' expression as she stood there, one eyebrow raised.

"Romana! What the hell are you doing out here?" Fred snapped.

"That's what I just asked you!" she hissed back.

George took a breath and let it out slowly, reasoning, "Well, Flitwick doesn't see you, so you must either be using a really strong charm or you somehow made the same potion we did."

Cari shrugged. "I actually used your potion. You left a little in the bottle."

Suddenly concerned, Fred asked worriedly, "How much did you take?"

"About half a bottle."

"There's no way we left that much," George said suspiciously.

After a quick explanation of her methods, Cari left the twins looking rather impressed. "Not bad, Romana. We'll have to keep an eye on you."

"Odd, but I'm more worried about what we're doing out here. You never answered my question!"

Casting a quick look over at Flitwick, George looped an arm through her right arm as Fred did the same with her left. "We're looking for a murderer, of course."

"Care to tag along?" Fred asked, waggling his ginger eyebrows.

Cari thought over it. Did she want to? No. Could she really refuse? Her mind dredged up a vision of the concern on the twins' faces when they found her earlier that night. Sighing, she sniffed, "Like I could leave you two to fend for yourselves."

* * *

Author's Note \- Oh, Cari, ever-ready to get into odd situations. Hope it works out for her! As I'm sure you noticed, there was a lot of interaction with the twins in this chapter - as I've said before, they're my favorite characters, so they're bound to show up a lot! I did try to throw in interactions with other characters as well, and I promise that not all the chapters will be so Forge-heavy. They were trying to behave themselves, as was Cari, but that curiosity gets the best of her! Now, special shoutout to my two diehard reviewers:

ghostcrab311 - Yeah, Peeves has always struck me as a bit of a douche. The only people he likes are the twins and maybe Dumbledore. Everyone else (besides the Bloody Baron) is just joke fodder. And yes! I've been waiting to write these scenes since I first started this fic, so I'm really excited for the next bit of plot!

RebelliousPrince - I have to admit, I snorted really loudly when I read the thing about the mole in the nostril. That was good! Glad you're liking the plot recently - I really enjoy it myself!

Well, that finishes things up for this week! I feel weird giving life advice in the Author's Note section of a fan-fiction, but in case it ever comes up, never drink unfamiliar liquids. It probably won't end as well for you as it did for Cari. Well, assuming you think being on a hunt for a murderer in a dark, drafty castle is good. Anyway! Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this installment, and I will see you next Monday!


	70. The Dungeons

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, settings, plots, characters, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing. Thank you.

* * *

The Dungeons

"So, where are we starting this search?" Cari asked, already tired of following silently.

"I dunno," George shrugged, seeming unconcerned.

Cari gaped over at him. "You don't know? You came up with this whole plot to sneak out of the most heavily-guarded place in the castle to search for a dangerous criminal and you don't have any ideas on where to start looking?"

"Calm down, Romana."

"Are you always like this when you don't get much sleep?"

"Yeah, we never pictured you being this screechy."

"Do you want me to get screechy? Because that can be arranged." It was a threat delivered in the most dangerous voice Cari could muster as she eyed the twins on either side of her.

"It was a joke," Fred explained, speaking deliberately slowly.

"Yeah, we'll start our search down near the dungeons and work our way up," George summarized.

Cari stayed silent for a moment, feeling utterly foolish for taking the Weasley twins seriously. "Since I didn't before, I guess I should ask what exactly I drank from that bottle earlier." It was a peace offering, but Cari was ready to be skeptical of the answer. After all, she wouldn't put it past the two to claim it was a high-density wizarding vitamin or some such nonsense.

"Well…" Fred drew out. "That's a bit of a story, there."

"Did you know," George asked in a deceptively-casual tone, "That almost every charm has a liquid equivalent that has up to quadruple the power?"

"I didn't," Cari said, raising her eyebrows. "Should I take it that this is actually a super powerful Notice-Me-Not Charm?"

"Something like that," Fred said with a shrug.

George, however, chose to take pity on her and expanded on his brother's statement: "The original charm was a little more powerful, but the basic concept is the same. By liquefying the charm - a process that's far too involved to explain right now - it creates a concentrated version of the original effects. That's how none of the teachers managed to see us as we snuck out." George stopped as a smirk crossed his face. "Well, I assume you snuck. Freddie and I just walked straight out."

Fred chuckled. "Yeah, this isn't exactly a new trick for us."

"Been doing it since, what, second year?"

"Sounds about right."

"Hang on a minute," Cari said, interrupting their self-congratulatory banter. "Are you telling me that you managed to perfect the process of liquefying a charm into a potion, tested it on yourselves, and used it for _pranking_ , all by the time you were twelve?"

"To be fair," Fred reasoned, "We started working on it when we were eleven."

"But Ginny told me that you guys have the worst grades of anyone in your entire family!"

"Yeah!" George cheered as Fred just laughed. "Drives Percy absolutely bonkers."

That didn't help explain anything. "But... Why?"

"Honestly, messing with Perce is reason enough," Fred admitted.

"Come on," Cari said, tone unimpressed. "There has to be a reason. You can't just decide you're going to do poorly in school because you want to tick off one of your older brothers."

George shrugged. "It's honestly more that we already knew everything they try to teach us. We're working on stuff that's more advanced, so why waste time relearning how to do things that are on a way lower level?"

"Because you don't want to fail out of school?"

"Never an issue," Fred dismissed. "We're not stupid, we just aren't 'displaying the kind of advanced intellect shown by our siblings'." At Cari's strange look, he grinned. "We got enough lectures from McGonagall to know exactly how we disappoint everyone."

Cari could only shake her head in amazed confusion as she looked up at the ginger twins walking on either side of her. "I just don't get it. You guys are amazingly creative and you've shown that you don't mind searching out and perfecting advanced magical theories and techniques as long as it's for the right reason. Why go to all of that effort for something like pranking?"

"Do you want the short answer or the long answer?" George asked, whiskey-colored eyes serious.

Suddenly feeling like she was intruding, Cari shrugged and said quietly, "Whichever you guys are more comfortable telling me."

The twins glanced at each other over her head and simultaneously said, "Because it's fun."

She looked back and forth between the two and shook her head once more. While she had been absorbed in their conversation, the three had made their way down to the dungeons. Deciding it was time to abandon the conversation, Cari changed the subject. "So, do we need to be worried about Sirius Black seeing us?"

"Of course not," Fred snorted.

"And why is that?" Cari asked, a bit miffed that he had been so dismissive.

"Romana," he said, voice long-suffering. "Haven't you ever noticed that the Hogwarts professors aren't exactly standard witches and wizards?"

Cari did her best to keep the confusion from her face as she replied dryly, "Believe it or not, in the two months I've gone to this school, I may have been distracted by something or another."

George chuckled and nudged her arm. "What he means is that the professors here tend to be chosen because they're the best people available. Working at Hogwarts isn't like working at any other school. It's like, the ultimate privilege, proof that you're a leading innovator in your field."

"Okaayyy…" Cari drew, still not understanding where the two were going with this.

"What my brother is trying to slow-walk you to realizing," Fred cut in, "is that this potion worked to fool some of the most powerful people in the wizarding world. If it could hide us from them, there's no way a crazy guy who's been rotting in Azkaban for the last twelve years is going to be able to notice us."

It was a fairly good point, so Cari didn't press the issue. "How long will it be before the effects of the potion start to fade?"

"We have a solid few hours," George assured. "We think the charm will wear off somewhere around three in the morning, at the earliest. By then, we'll be back in our beds and no one will notice if it lasts a little longer."

"If you say so," Cari said dubiously, glancing at a nearby clock. "But that doesn't give us very much time."

"Too right," Fred agreed. "We have a lot of ground to cover. Let's split up."

Cari let out a hearty laugh before clapping a hand over her mouth. The twins looked at her curiously and she explained, "I know you two aren't overly-familiar with Muggle cinema, but when the characters in a film are in this type of situation and someone suggests that they split up, bad things usually start to happen."

"But we have magic," George pointed out. "We're not going to get lost or anything."

"Well, usually it's more along the lines of people dying, but sure. Also, I hate to bring this up, but having magic only helps when the person you're fighting doesn't have it. It like how having a gun is only a really strong advantage if your enemy doesn't have one."

"Gun?" Fred repeated, sounding mystified while George frowned.

"First, Muggle films sound horrifying. Second, Black doesn't have magic. His wand was snapped when he was thrown into Azkaban, and obviously, he hasn't gotten a new one." George crossed his arms like he had delivered an unassailable defense.

Cari knew better. "George, how many students do you think there are at Hogwarts?" As he fumbled for an answer, she cut him off. "How many first years? How many kids who were too flustered to grab their wands before they left for the Great Hall?" She laughed mirthlessly. "I could be wrong, but I would guess that Sirius Black is probably armed by now. At the very least, we need to assume he's got a wand until we know otherwise."

George shuffled a little while Fred swallowed nervously. Cari noticed with some satisfaction that both were holding their wands as though they were ready to use them as more than a source of light. She gripped hers as well, casting a subtle, low-powered shielding spell that she would be able to keep in place without paying it too much attention. After a moment of consideration, she advised both boys to do the same, though she didn't wait to see if they listened to her. Instead, Cari began a search of the main dungeon.

After a few moments had passed, Cari started to regret her ominous words. Normally, the dungeons were noticeably cooler and quieter than the rest of the castle, but without students around, they had become a little on the eerie side. The damp stones echoed every mundane castle noise back to her ears, somehow magnifying them and twisting them into mysterious and unfamiliar sounds. More than once, Cari found herself twisting around to see how far away the twins were, though for the most part, they stayed very close.

She paused outside an unfamiliar room, shooting a questioning glance over her shoulder. "What is this one? I don't think I've ever been in here before."

"Well, yeah, you wouldn't have been," Fred agreed, staring up at the arched ceilings.

George nodded, also staring around the dim surroundings. "'Course not. This is the Deathday Party Hall."

"The what?" Cari asked flatly, already dreading the answer.

"Well, ghosts, you know. They celebrate the day of their death like we do with the day we were born."

"A little macabre, we grant you, but they like it. It's tradition for them."

"And this is just a place set aside for it."

"They say it gets the best echoes."

"It's important for the wailing sessions."

Cari waved her hands, not needing to hear any more details. "I dislike almost everything you two just said and I'm not going in there. Let's just say that Sirius Black, no matter how insane he became in Azkaban, still has more sense than to hide in there."

"Oh that's right," George commented with a sudden glint in his eyes. "You don't like ghosts."

"Wasn't that her Boggart?"

"Was it?"

Cari began walking away from the pair, praying for something to happen to change the subject, but she had no such luck.

"Nah, it was something with a broom, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Are you scared of flying, Romana?"

"Terrified," Cari replied tonelessly. "Can we move on? We don't have time for this."

"I think she's lying to us, Gred."

"I agree, Forge, but she's right about the time."

"Yeah. Don't want to waste a perfectly good charm."

They both half-jogged to catch up to Cari, who was approaching the door to the Dungeon Pit. For the most part, students were supposed to stay out of the cavernous room due to the danger it presented. According to legend - and somewhat backed up by _Hogwarts, A History_ \- it was built as part of the school's defenses and only later converted to a sort of shortcut between the dungeon corridor, a stockroom, and the back of the room she now knew was the Deathday Party Hall. The door to the Dungeon Pit was always kept locked with a high-level spell, so Cari didn't bother with it.

The twins, on the other hand, weren't as willing to move on as she was.

"Whoa, whoa, Romana! What are you doing?"

"How can you expect us to just pass up a chance like this?"

"Easily. We don't have much time left before the charm wears off, so why should we waste time looking in an area that Black is unlikely to be in?" Cari didn't turn around to give her explanation, instead making a beeline for some of the upper dungeons found on their way back toward the Great Hall.

"Mudblood," one of the twins hissed.

Cari whirled around, carefully keeping her face blank. "If you want to be technical with your insults, I'm a Mongrel, not a Mudblood."

"Oh, good idea, Romana!" George cheered. "Mongrel!"

He was flinging the insult toward the wall rather than at her, but Cari still felt the sting of the word. "Well, if that's all you needed, I'm going back up to the Great Hall before things move from verbal insults to physical attacks."

She turned to march up the stone staircase, but Fred appeared in front of her, face concerned. "What's wrong, Cari? Where are you going?"

Blinking back the film of tears forming in her eyes, Cari forced a careless shrug. "I just figured that I would leave since I'm not wanted here." She gave an uncomfortable half-smile. "No matter how often it happens, I'm still not used to being called names because of my blood."

"No, Cari!" George cried from behind her. "That's not what's going on!"

"Isn't it?" she asked, staring at the ground with her arms folded.

"Not at all," Fred denied firmly. "We know from the map that the Slytherin Common Room is behind that wall. The password reveals the entrance, but we don't know what the password would be."

"From what we know about Slytherins, we figure it's going to be something about blood purity," George volunteered. "It seemed worth a shot, but no one thinks of you in that negative sort of way."

"No one _we_ associate with, obviously," Fred assured her.

"And if anyone says anything when we're around, we put a quick stop to it," George added with a steely look in his eyes.

"Okay, I get it, thank you," Cari cut in. "Seriously, thanks for looking out for me. It means a lot." Reminded suddenly of the things the pair didn't know about her, Cari gulped, trying to swallow back her apprehension. "Even if a time comes that you don't want to stand up for me anymore, I won't forget that you did. Thank you."

"Well, all right, but I don't see a time like that coming," Fred grinned.

"Like we always say," George winked conspiratorially. "Once a Weasley-"

"Always a Weasley!" the two finished together, probably far louder than was prudent given the circumstances.

Though Cari's heart was too full of gratefulness to shush them, sounds of movement came from the top of the staircase leading to the Great Hall. "... thought I heard something from down here," they heard Professor Flitwick say. "Probably nothing. You know how those dungeons can produce their own noises sometimes."

"Yes, I know very well," Professor Snape's smooth voice agreed. "But I have to say that particular sound is new to even me. I think it would be prudent to investigate."

The dungeon trio exchanged wide-eyed looks of horror before intently studying their surroundings in an attempt to find somewhere to hide. Cari, for her part, darted to the door to the Dungeon Pit. Previous hesitations forgotten, she tried every unlocking spell she could think of to open the door, but to no avail. The door stayed firmly closed and Snape's footsteps were closer than ever.

"Come on, Romana!" Fred hissed.

Gripping her arm firmly, George dragged her along the corridor until they reached a doorway, held open by Fred until they sped inside. He closed it tightly, careful to lock it from the inside before turning to the others. "Come on," he urged. "We have to go further on in so he can't cast a sensing charm for us."

From what little Cari could see in the dim light coming under the door, they were standing on a wide stone staircase. It twisted down and around a corner out of sight. Escorted by the twins, who each had a grasp on one of her arms, Cari descended the staircase until they wound out of sight of the door. As soon as they knew they wouldn't be seen by the searching professor, George lit his wand.

After shaking her arms free, Cari pushed back her hair and said, "So, which room did we end up coming into?"

George let out a choked-sounding couch while Fred seemed to be actively trying to suppress a grin. "You didn't see, then?" Fred asked once his face was under control.

Cari shook her head, not willing to speak when she could hear Professor Snape shuffling around in the corridor they still stood so close to. She did wish George would stop coughing so loudly, and shot him a glare.

Making a face she knew he thought looked innocent, George shrugged with his hands outspread. "What? I'm not the one who picked the room."

He dissolved into another round of cough-laughs and Cari punched him squarely in the solar plexus. "Stop that! If you need to laugh for some reason, laugh, but stop being so loud about it!"

While George was recovering from the hit, Fred held out a hand, making a soothing gesture at Cari. "Okay, Romana, keep in mind that irrational fears are something that can be dealt with and also that we're in a bit of a situation right now and we need to keep as quiet as possible."

Trying to breathe past her suddenly-racing heart, Cari folded her arms to glare at Fred. "The introduction could use a little work. Tell me where we are. Now."

"We- Well, we, um… We're in the Deathday Party Hall."

Cari nodded slowly and started moving back toward the door. George, apparently having recovered from his fit of laughter and from Cari's punch, grabbed at her upper arm. She dodged him easily, but the only way to move away, retreating farther away from the door. "What is your problem?"

"You can't go out there!"

"Romana, if you walk through that door, you'll get us all detention until graduation, at the very least."

"We'll be lucky if they don't expel us on the spot."

"Okay, Granger."

"Sod off, Forge!"

"I don't care!" she hissed. "I would rather go out there and face Snape right now than stay in this creepy hellhole until he's gone. I can't stay here!"

The twins watched her through narrowed eyes. "'Course you say that, Romana."

"You're only here for this year."

"If we have to clean bedpans for three years, what does it matter to you?"

"You guys don't seem to realize what an irrational fear is! I _cannot_ stay here. It's beyond my limit and if I have to be in here for more than another minute, I'm going to have an all-out panic attack. Just because you two have never been afraid of anything doesn't mean that I can't be!"

As the tirade poured from her mouth, Cari slid down the wall, ending up sitting on the cold stones of the floor with her face in her hands. One of the twins rested a comforting hand on her shoulder and said soothingly, "You'll be okay; you're brave."

The other chimed in with, "Obviously brave. Gryffindor, eh?"

Voice slightly muffled, Cari spat venomously, "I've told you over and over: I must have been Sorted into the wrong House."

An odd sliding sound came from next to her, but Cari was too frightened to open her eyes, sure for no reason at all that the source of the noise would be a ghost. "Fire."

Somewhat startled by the softly-muttered word, Cari looked over into Fred's whiskey-colored eyes. "What?"

He grinned. "George is afraid of fire. What a nutter, right?"

George, seated comfortably on the other side of Cari, gasped in indignation. "How dare you, you prat! I'm afraid of _Fiendfyre_ , not just a garden-variety _incendio_. And Fred is afraid of dolls. Who's the nutter now, Freddie-Boy?"

"I'll have you know it wasn't nearly as bad before Bill brought home that cursed voodoo doll the Americans asked him to look at," Fred retorted, voice prim. "And I didn't see you volunteering to hold it!"

"All right, mate, just calm down," George chuckled. "Just taking the piss, as always."

"Were those your boggarts?" Cari asked, partially to cut the budding argument short and partially out of curiosity. She had left before either twin had gone up against the creature and regretted missing the chance to see how they handled the fear.

George shrugged. "Well, we rushed after you, but that's what they would have been."

Cari gave him an odd look, but Fred laughed. "We know every inch of this castle, Romana. That wasn't the first boggart Hogwarts has ever seen and we've gone up against more than one in the past."

"But don't tell anyone, yeah?" George asked.

Fred nodded. "Can't have this castle knowing what we're afraid of."

"Ruins the image."

Cari agreed without a second thought. As she well knew, fears are incredible personal and it's unpleasant when everyone knows them. When she had promised, Fred narrowed eyes at her. "But you, Romana… You are a puzzle."

"What do you mean?" Cari asked uncomfortably.

George was the one who answered, "You're so afraid of ghosts, but your boggart wasn't one."

"So," Fred continued, forcing Cari to continue swiveling her head back and forth to look between the pair, "there's something you're more afraid of than ghosts-"

"-and it has something to do with brooms," George concluded.

There was an awkward silence in which Cari did her best to avoid their gazes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You know," Fred offered suddenly. "I've heard that being exposed to something you're afraid of can help you get over it."

Cari stared at him drolly, trying to quash the flood of images of Shadow that her mind kicked up. "I don't think that's going to help in this particular situation."

"You never know," George said offhandedly. "We have open Quidditch practices every now and then. Maybe you should think about coming to one? Might help."

"I doubt it," Cari shut down. She didn't want to offend the boys, but she would rather light herself on fire than voluntarily attend another Quidditch game, especially one at the school that Shadow had been all set to attend.

Fred stood up suddenly. "Well, either way, sounds like Snape's gone."

"Just in time, too," George agreed. "The charm is supposed to wear off any minute."

With that, the three rushed up the stairs, sprinted across the Great Hall, and rolled into their bedrolls without attracting any unwanted attention - though Cari would have sworn she saw Professor Dumbledore wink at the three as they made their way past his patrol area. For a handful of minutes, all of them laid in their bedrolls, giving the occasional laugh when they thought over the successful prank. Soon enough, Cari drifted off to sleep, dreaming of pleasant, meaningless things.

* * *

Author's Note \- Okay, so, I will gladly admit to using the Harry Potter Wikipedia pages to shape the layout of the dungeons, and they used quite a bit of material from the old  
HP video games. Having never played the games, I apologize if it comes off a little muddled. From what I remember, there's never a solid description of the dungeons in the books, either, so bear with me!

ghostcrab311: There were definite correlations between Cari and Alice at that point! One of the few times I could really see her acting as a true Gryffindor.

So, I want to bounce an idea off of you guys: Since this story is getting so long (and promises to have a solid number of chapters still to be published), I've been wondering if I should split it up. Roughly, the beginning of the story until the time when Cari goes to live with Kat would be its own story and everything at Hogwarts would be a sort of sequel. I think it would make the story easier to read, but I know it also screws up follows and favorites. I'm really not sure and would love to hear any input you guys have! With that being said, thanks for reading, hope to hear from you all, and have a wonderful week. See you next Monday!


	71. November, 2009

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

 ****** Please note, even if you religiously skip the Author's Note at the end of these chapters, please read the last paragraph. It has pertinent information.

* * *

November, 2009

The week after the Halloween attack was busy, which was both good and bad. Cari didn't hear anything more from the twins about attending a Quidditch practice, though from what the Hogwarts rumor mill had cranked out, that had less to do with being busy and more to do with emergency preparations for the last-minute switch of the opposing team from Slytherin to Hufflepuff. Cari, having heard less about the Hufflepuff team than the Slytherin one, would have assumed that it would have been a worry-easing switch, but from the constant state of Oliver Wood's hair and robes, it was safe to say that this wasn't the case. In fact, as the week went on, Cari began to hear more and more opinions of the superiority of Hufflepuff's Seeker, Cedric Diggory. Most of the gossipers proclaimed him the superior Seeker among all the houses, so Cari supposed she understood where Wood's concern was coming from. As she well knew, a good Seeker could make or break a match.

As a result of all of this, Cari didn't see much of the twins, Katie Bell - who had become a sort of mealtime conversational companion - or Harry. _Just as well_ , she thought. Knowing now about Harry's relationship with Sirius Black, she could understand how frustrating it would be to attend Hogwarts right now. It seemed like the escaped convict was the go-to conversational topic of the castle at the moment, and Cari was sure it would grow very thin very quickly, especially in Harry's case.

However, her major source of irritation were the constantly-increasing security measures. No matter how often Hermione pointed out that things had been much worse the previous year, Cari couldn't get past the fact that professors constantly roamed the halls between classes, keeping an eye on the students. There were two areas which Cari noticed always had greater-than-average security: any hallway or between-class area which took the students outside the main building of the castle, and anywhere that Harry Potter might be standing. Yes, she understood the concern, but Harry must be going absolutely crazy if he had noticed the special treatment he was getting from their guardians - though as long as the Dementors kept out of things, she supposed no one could complain too much.

By far the most obnoxious of the updates was the new portrait replacing the still-nervous Fat Lady. This was of a brash knight called Sir Cadogan, and often found it too demeaning to 'bandy to the whims of a bunch of children' by taking the password and opening the door to the common room. Cari had multiple discussions with Sir Smethwyck on the subject.

"Ah, yes," he had said when she brought him up at first. "We all know of Cadogan and his tendencies toward the dramatic."

"So there's nothing that can be done about him?" Cari asked hopelessly.

The man in the portrait had shaken his head. "I apologize, my dear, but I have often thought that Cadogan displays the worst possible combination of Gryffindor traits."

Cari had thought over that for a long moment before agreeing. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Well, until the Fat Lady decides it's time to come back, I guess there isn't much we can do about it anyway."

"Too true," the knight had agreed before changing the subject.

Now, Cari found herself locked out of the Tower with every other Gryffindor. Sir Cadogan had apparently decided that one of the paintings across the room had insulted his honor and had to challenge them to a duel. Cari had simply chosen to retreat to the library in hopes of making up some lost time with her homework, but was there for less than an hour before company approached.

"Hey, Cari," Ginny greeted, taking a seat at Cari's table and ignoring the dirty look Madam Pince sent over. "Oh, have you met Luna yet?"

Cari followed the red-headed girl's gaze, shocked to discover that there was a girl seated next to her. _This must be the infamous Luna Lovegood…_ Her dirty blonde hair was piled on top of her head and fastened with what seemed to be a carrot stabbed through the stack. Some long waves still hung down, but Cari had to admit that the carrot was doing an impressive job. Dragging her eyes to meet Luna's slightly bulging ones, she smiled and stuck out a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Cari."

Luna rested one finger delicately on the top of Cari's thumb and smiled vacantly. Cari blinked, but forced herself to keep smiling. Luna let out a ringing laugh and looked over at Ginny, who was waving in acknowledgement to Madam Pince's shushing. "She's got one of the best defenses against Granrits I've ever seen!" Luna turned back to Cari, leaning in to tap a spot near her left eye. "Granrits hate eyes like yours."

It took a moment, but Cari nodded sagely. "Granrits are the worst. Thank goodness I've never had to worry about them." Over Luna's shoulder, Cari could see Ginny with an odd look on her face: half exasperation for encouraging the strange girl, half gratitude to Cari for being nice to her friend. Luna took a deep breath, but before she could start going on about Granrits, whatever they were, Cari realized who the girl reminded her of. "Luna, you wouldn't happen to know a Slytherin girl named Atrox Rosier, would you?"

Ginny groaned aloud at the question as Luna's already-bright eyes brightened further. "Of course! Atrox was the first person to help me hunt Narleywhickets here. No one else understood what a serious problem they are once they establish colonies in an area. She's the best Narleywhicket hunter I've ever met - well, after my father, of course. She doesn't have any problem with Granrits, either."

"That doesn't surprise me a bit," Cari said, grinning at Luna. "You know, I would love to go Narleywhicket hunting sometime…"

"Cari!" Ginny hissed, throwing an apologetic glance over her shoulder at Pince, who had shushed them violently. The red-head turned to her friend a moment later. "I'm sorry, Luna, but I don't think Cari can go Narleywhicket hunting. I'm pretty sure she's allergic."

"Well," the blonde girl said dreamily, "most people are. Narleywhickets are built to be offensive to people. Oh! They don't mean anything by it," she said beseechingly to Cari, who nodded in understanding of the creatures she had honestly never heard of before. "It's just the way they were made. They feed on sneezes, you know."

"I had heard that," Cari said consideringly, ignoring the pointed glare Ginny was sending her way. "But most of the American varieties prefer coughs. They're less violent, but more frequent. Makes for a more filling meal, I've heard."

Before Luna could respond, Ginny was standing and pulling her friend to her feet. "Come on, Luna. I just remembered we need to… to check the dungeons for… yeah, let's go."

"Of course," Luna agreed serenely. "Good-bye, Licaria. It was lovely to meet someone so knowledgeable about Narleywhickets."

"It was lovely to meet you, too," Cari said, shockingly being honest. "I see how you and Atrox are friends."

"What a wonderful thing to say," Luna mused as Ginny physically dragged her from the library. As they left, Cari smirked to herself and got back to work on her homework.

* * *

A few days later, Cari had her Thursday morning Defense Against The Dark Arts class. It was a fairly interesting class, covering Hinkypunks, but despite the fascinating subject material, Cari found herself completely distracted by Professor Lupin's current state of health.

The normally-pale professor looked to be on the brink of death. Dark smudges edged his eyes, accenting the tautly-drawn lines of his face. The eyes themselves were bloodshot, his hair was limp, and even his moustache seemed tired. Cari barely made it through the class - trying to take in the lecture delivered in a thin, wavering voice - while her mind was whirring concernedly over how a recently-vibrant man could look so grievously ill in such a short amount of time. She scoured her memories, searching for something Tess might have mentioned from her Healer classes, but couldn't come up with anything other than Spattergroit - which the distressingly-pale man certainly wasn't suffering from.

When the class was finally over, Cari waited until most of the students had left before approaching Professor Lupin. The man had collapsed into the chair behind his desk as soon as he had finished speaking and currently sat with one shaking hand covering his sunken eyes.

"Professor Lupin?" she asked hesitantly, careful to keep her voice gentle.

It didn't matter, as the hand over his eyes jerked away as he winced up at her, obviously having been startled. "Ah, Miss Romana, I apologize, but I'm afraid I'm not able to be of much assistance this afternoon. Perhaps I can help you after our class next Wednesday."

"No, it isn't that, Professor. I just- I wanted to make sure you're all right." Though the hand was covering his eyes once more, Cari could see the frown etching itself into the lines around his mouth and on his forehead. "You just seem a little ill. I could go get Madam Pomfrey if you need her. I'm sure she would come without asking any questions-"

"Thank you for the concern, Miss Romana, but I am fine." Cari stared down at him disbelievingly. Though he didn't see her expression, he seemed to have felt it as his mouth twitched up into a small half-smile as he corrected, "That is, I will be fine. It is nothing but a small cold, a mild illness I expect will run its course before much time has passed."

"If you're sure, Professor," Cari said doubtfully. She wanted to press the man further, to insist that he get some medical attention, but couldn't. After all, he had been so understanding and kind after the Boggart incident. "I hope you feel better soon." Cari left the classroom, only just noticing the slight wave of acknowledgement the professor had given at her words. Still pondering what could be happening, she headed to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table for lunch.

"Hey," Katie Bell said in greeting, sitting across from Cari. "What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry?" Cari asked, confused.

"You're late," Ron clarified, only just having swallowed a mouthful of green beans.

"Just because you're never more than three seconds late to a meal doesn't mean everyone's the same way, Ronniekins," George chuckled.

"Act like you're starving half the time," Fred added.

"Not like you'll waste away any time soon."

"Not when you eat like a dugbog getting ready for hibernation."

"Hello, everyone," Hermione greeted breathlessly, sliding into a spot next to Cari. "What are we talking about?"

"Our little brother's strange need to eat four times his weight every day," Fred answered.

"You're late, too!" Ron pointed out. "What is keeping you people in class any longer than you have to be?"

"Oh, you were late, too?" Hermione asked, turning to Cari.

The American fourth-year felt oddly like Hermione was trying to take attention off of herself, but the interest in her brown eyes seemed sincere, so Cari answered the question regardless. "Yeah, I was trying to convince Lupin that he needs to go see Pomfrey. He looks like he's half an inch from death. Where were you?"

"Professor Lupin is ill?" she asked, neatly avoiding Cari's question.

"Uh, yeah, he looks all pale and shaky. I honestly didn't think he was going to make it through the class without collapsing."

"Oh, poor thing," she said sympathetically before freezing. "I can't believe it, I forgot to do the second part of the essay he assigned us! It's due tomorrow! I'll see you all later!"

She pushed back from the table and stood up before Ron said, "Hey! You just got here and you're just going to take off again?"

"Honestly, Ronald," Hermione huffed, but she did take a hasty bite of shepherd's pie and grab a dinner roll from the table before she rushed out of the Great Hall.

"I swear, that girl works harder than most students do in their whole time at Hogwarts," Ron grumbled into his plate. Cari couldn't bring herself to disagree with his assessment and neither could anyone else.

Cari felt a little surge of satisfaction the next day when she heard that Professor Lupin wasn't present to teach his classes, but the feeling was quickly buried under a tide of sympathy. He had looked remarkably ill the day before, and probably should have opted out of teaching then as well, but she hoped that he was resting and taking medication now. If there was one thing the combined lectures of Doctor Combes and Tess had taught Cari, it was that a disconcertingly-large number of wizarding diseases disguised their initial infection periods as simple colds.

One of the more interesting side effects of Professor Lupin's absence was that Professor Snape had been pulled in to cover for the sick man, a fact Cari became aware of only when she heard students complaining in the corridors about the amount of work the irascible professor had assigned. She had wondered how her own Potions class was going to be handled, but all of her questions were put to rest the moment she entered the dungeons after lunch. The elegant scrawl on the chalkboard held the attention of each entering student:

 _Students,_

 _as you are no doubt aware, I will not be present for this afternoon's class. Instructions have been clearly written on the board below. I expect exceedingly-impressive results from this brew, assuming that each of you is worthy of being in a fourth-level Potions course - doubtful as this may be. Regardless, any foolish or reckless behavior will be punished most severely._

 _Professor Severus Snape_

There was a rising flood of murmurs as everyone read through and processed the message, only growing when they saw the instructions for the potion. No matter of Snape's disdainful opinions on their intelligence, it was most definitely an easy potion, and the students set to it eagerly.

It was definitely one of the more relaxed days Cari had ever experienced in the Potions dungeon. She and the Slytherins acted largely the same, having little fear of the generally-intimidating professor on a regular day, but the Gryffindors were noticeably more more talkative. Though all of the lions were less inclined to work, everyone managed to finish their potions before the end of the class and when everyone left, there was a neat stack of meticulously-labeled flasks on Professor Snape's desk, awaiting his return.

* * *

The next day, Cari was grumpily sitting in the Gryffindor section of the stands. The weather outside could be described as a very damp, blustery version of hell. Lightning arced across the school, prompting her to wonder who exactly had approved a bunch of high schoolers to fly around up in the air on broomsticks, but that was above her pay grade. For all Cari knew, Hogwarts had some kind of anti-lightning spell built into its wards.

Hermione and Ron seemed to be somewhere closer to the action, but Ginny was sitting up in the stands with Cari. Normally, Cari enjoyed the company of the sporty red-head, but today, Ginny spent most of her time spouting advice to the players who couldn't hear her and digging nails into Cari's arm every time Harry or one of her brothers was knocked around, either by the wind or the other players.

For all that Ginny's panic was a pain - literally - Cari was thankful because it distracted her roommate from noticing that she never looked at the players. In fact, sitting there with her gaze fixed firmly on the people sitting in front of her was becoming a little much for Cari, who began thinking over various scenarios that would allow her to leave the loud, crowded, cheering pitch and go somewhere that would allow her to focus on anything else. Eventually, due to a lack of options, she settled on the oldest excuse in the proverbial book:

"Ginny, I have to go to the bathroom."

Casting Cari an incredulous look, Ginny said, "Can't you just hold it? This game is getting really intense!"

"Sorry, Gin. Things are getting really intense in my bladder. I'll be right back," she lied, rising from her seat on the bench and edging around Ginny, who only nodded and moved to see around Cari's torso. It was with great relief that Cari bounded down the stairs tucked inside the tall stands, protected from the rain and cold wind by the thick, weather-impervious fabric wrapped around the base of the stands.

Just as her feet touched the miraculously-dry ground at the bottom of the staircase, an odd chill swept through the enclosed space, raising hairs along Cari's arms and the back of her neck. She tried convincing herself it was just an unseasonable breeze, but Cari nevertheless knew the truth: there was nothing that caused a chill like this besides Dementors. As if the thought of them brought their effects into sharp reality, Cari began shaking uncontrollably and she cursed Peeves as the image of Shadow falling and blaming her played on repeat behind eyelids that she had squeezed shut without realizing.

She was crying. Again. Her heart ached. Again. Cari was sick of feeling so sad, so helpless, so weak, but it was as though Shadow's death were a wound that simply wouldn't heal. Unwilling to let her fellow students see her like this, but physically unable to go outside and expose herself to the actual presence of the Dementors, Cari settled for tucking herself into a dry spot underneath the staircase.

Cari listened, curled up between a wooden wall and the thick fabric of the Gryffindor stand covering, as the rest of the Gryffindor students descended the staircase. They were all much more quiet than they had been when ascending. Cari supposed she could relate to their apparent lack of desire to chat. She didn't exactly want company, either.

Quite some time after the last student had left, Cari still sat under the stairs. The presence of the Dementors had left her cold and unwilling to move, but also, she had to figure out some way to answer the questions her roommates were sure to ask upon her return. After all, as far as Ginny knew, Cari had gone to use the restroom and never returned. Unfortunately, Cari's sluggish mind couldn't come up with any solid excuse for the odd behavior.

Just as her limbs were growing numb enough to make movement actually impossible, Cari heard someone enter the area. Shortly afterward, she was joined by Atrox. From the water dripping off the ends of the Slytherin's inky black hair, Cari felt it was safe to guess that the rain was still falling outside. Of course, the current weather conditions were of slightly less importance than Atrox's presence in Cari's hiding place, but focusing on minor details helped her scattered mind process everything.

Before Cari could say something - she had no idea what - Atrox smiled kindly at her. "Ah, I thought I might find you here. I brought you some chocolate. I've been promised that it helps to ward off the effects of the Dementors."

"Plus, it has natural Frimp'ong-repelling properties!" Luna chimed in, joining them. Cari stared at both of the rather odd girls, trying to decide which of her many questions to ask first. "I'm sure you're wondering how we found you," Luna said in her tinkling voice, removing the need for Cari to ask. "I don't exactly know, myself. Atrox led me here."

Both looked over at the marked Slytherin girl, who lifted one shoulder. "I cannot tell you how I knew you would be so affected by the Dementors," she said apologetically. "Until the day I am officially cast out of the Rosier family, my loyalty is bound to the will of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, who you have found yourself currently opposing. I cannot tell you more, but I promise that I will not harm you. This chocolate is safe. Please, eat some."

Cari obligingly took the slice of chocolate Atrox offered, trying to ignore the ominous warning behind her words. The reluctant Gryffindor did feel a little better as the now-familiar warmth spread through her. She ate and listened to Luna and Atrox talk back and forth about a random assortment of strange creatures she had never heard of before moving on to the aftermath of the game. Cari's attention was immediately grabbed by their discussion on Harry's fall and his current position in the Hospital Wing.

"What? Is he okay? What happened?" she asked frantically, mentally berating herself for being so selfish. _I didn't even know he had fallen!_

"It was the Dementors," Atrox informed. "They affect him even more intensely than they do you. Their presence on the pitch was enough so that he lost consciousness and fell from his broom. Fortunately, Headmaster Dumbledore was on hand to save Harry and dispel the creatures. I don't know if they managed to wake him or not, but he is currently in the Hospital Wing."

"Is anyone there yet? I mean, have they let people in to see Harry? See if he's okay?"

Luna furrowed her brows. "Well, I passed Ginny in a corridor and she said that she was going to try to see him, but would likely have to fight her way through the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team. From my understanding, they're refusing to leave and Madam Pomfrey is tired of arguing with them."

"Oh. Well, it sounds like Harry's got more than enough people there checking up on him," Cari said, still feeling rather guilty about her self-focus when her friend was being injured.

Luna surveyed her calmly, an odd light in her dreamy eyes. "I believe visitors - even in a hospital - are more about the people themselves and less about how many are there. If you don't want to visit, don't, but if you feel you should, I'm sure Harry would welcome the company. It's really up to you."

After taking Luna's advice into account, as well as Atrox's nod of agreement, Cari shook her head firmly. "No, I believe I would just be in the way. I'll see Harry when he's out of there. Hopefully, it won't be too long. Anyway, I think I would be better off going back to my room." She stood and offered a hand to both Luna and Atrox, but both simply stayed sitting on the ground. "Thank you for the information, the chocolate, and the company," she said politely and listened to their responses before leaving.

* * *

"Licaria Romana!" Ginny admonished, striding into the dorm room later that night.

Trying to pretend she hadn't jumped guiltily at the sound, Cari blinked at Ginny. "Yes?"

"Where did you go? You said you were going to the bathroom and then never came back. Did you come back _here_ to pee?"

"No, I- Well, the Dementor thing happened and I just wanted to go to bed," Cari fibbed, thinking to herself that it was close enough to the truth.

Ginny opened her mouth argumentatively, but was cut off by Hermione entering the room. "Come on, Ginny, give her a break. Those creatures make me feel like I need to spend a year soaking in a warm bath. I don't blame her for not wanting to stay out in the rain." Hermione hung up her cloak on a coat rack they had placed in a corner and met Cari's eyes. "I expect you've heard about Harry?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "How is he?"

"Depressed," Ginny answered simply.

"What, he's never lost a game before?" Cari asked incredulously.

"Something like that," Hermione responded. "But more than that, his broomstick was destroyed. He's had it since our first year and was very attached."

Cari nodded sympathetically. Broom troubles were something she could identify strongly with. "First year, you said? That's interesting. At Echowick, you can't play Quidditch until your second year, and even that is pretty rare."

The other girls made eye contact and laughed. "Harry's a bit of a special case," Ginny said, and launched into an explanation of Harry's Quidditch beginnings that was quite impressively-detailed, especially since the timeline was such that she hadn't been there at all.

After hearing the entire story, however, Cari began to form her own private theory on what had happened. It was very likely that Harry had bonded with the Nimbus 2000 much as she had with the 'cursed' broomstick back at Echowick. _It would certainly make sense_ , she mused. _After all, a mistreated boy comes to an entirely alien world and finds that he's good at a sport his father used to play, then gets an advanced broomstick to play said game… Of course he would form a bond with it._

"So," Cari said, shaking herself back to reality. "Will Harry be okay?"

"Physically, yes," Hermione affirmed. "As for the rest of him, I hope so, but I don't know how many more encounters with the Dementors he can withstand."

Cari understood that deeply.

* * *

For the next week or so, everyone was sure to avoid all mentions of Quidditch in an incredibly transparent but oddly endearing attempt to spare Harry's feelings. It apparently wasn't working, as the boy was still in an understandable funk for the majority of the time. He had been kept in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the weekend and Cari had visited him once. She didn't ask about the broom, but there was a bag on his bedside table that Hermione had confided contained the shards of his Nimbus 2000. Cari felt bad for him, but from all her of Broomsmith books, there was no way to repair the damage that had been done to the broom. Even the most advanced and powerful _reparo_ possible would only result in a broom completely lacking in any magical abilities.

Fortunately, many things served to distract Harry and the downtrodden Gryffindors over the following days - not the least of which was the return of Professor Lupin, who apparently managed to undo any damage Professor Snape had caused during his term as substitute. Cari was pleased to find that Lupin looked a great deal better, but made a mental note to wash her hands even more often than usual. If the DADA professor had been dealing with a cold that severe, she really didn't want to be at risk of contracting it herself!

Alas, the peace would come to a soon and abrupt end. A week and some change after the Gryffindor team's loss, Quidditch practices started up again - along with the pressure from Fred and George for Cari to attend. She usually sought solace in the library, but it didn't take long for them to find her there as well.

On a quiet Friday spent in the cavernous room, Cari stifled a groan and tried to hide behind her stack of books before the red-headed pair saw her, but they entered the library and made a beeline for her table. They sat down across from her since - by some show of luck - the table was missing a chair on Cari's side.

"Ah, Romana-"

"Just the person we were hoping to see-"

"No," Cari said flatly, not giving them the chance to ask again. "Don't bother, the answer is still no. I have no interest."

"Why, Cari-"

"We have no idea what you could mean-"

"Utter mystery, yeah?"

"Shut up. I'm not going to watch a Quidditch practice, so please just leave me alone."

"You know," Fred said, leaning forward with sudden interest. "If I didn't know better, I would say you don't like Quidditch."

"Of course I like Quidditch!" Cari whisper-shouted back, stung by the insinuation. "That has nothing to do with my reasons."

"Have you even seen that much of the sport?" George asked condescendingly. "I heard they play Quodpot in the States."

"Well, obviously, we didn't at my school, what with the exploding Quod and all of that. We had Quidditch and I went to every game," she responded with a certain sense of pride. "I'm still not going to see you practice."

"Come on, Romana!" George wheedled. "You have to go! You're friends with most of the team!"

She stared at him flatly. "I know math isn't a strong suit for wizards, but three-sevenths is not a majority."

Fred waved his hand dismissively. "I was talking about importance, not quantity."

"That makes no sense! And also, you weren't even the one who said that!"

"Details, details," George said nonchalantly.

Feeling distinctly as though she had fallen down a well, Cari made a noise of frustration and stood. "I'm not doing this. I can't today. Either you guys are leaving or I am."

"Or we could all leave-"

"Yeah, and do something that brings joy to life."

"I didn't list that as an option," Cari said, fighting back a sigh.

"Ah," Fred hedged, raising one finger. "But your options are only limited by your creativity."

"No. These options are limited by me and I gave you two. Which are you going to choose?"

"Can we hear the choices one more time?"

"Forget it. I'm going," Cari gathered her books with a certain amount of eye rolling, but the twins moved faster than her, standing and ruffling her hair as they laughed.

"We knew you would see it our way eventually!"

Cari frowned at their retreating backs. "That's not- that's not what I meant! I am not going tomorrow!"

In answer, they tossed back over their shoulders, "See you there!"

"Nine a.m. on the pitch. Don't be late!"

Of course, it being a Saturday, nine a.m., and something she didn't want to do anyway, Cari didn't show up, but most definitely knew about her friends' displeasure.

"Hey, Cari," Ginny said somewhat questioningly as she entered the room. "Fred and George told me to tell you that you need to have a talk about responsibility, trustworthiness, and dedication. They said you would know what that meant. They also said that since you seem to have adopted the Muggle story of Sleeping Beauty and probably missed breakfast, you can meet them at the kitchens."

Still half asleep, Cari thanked Ginny for the message and rested her head for a bit to think. Eventually, she figured out that it would be tempting fate to blow off the twins twice in one day, so she reluctantly dressed and went to the kitchens, taking time to greet the house elves before anything else.

"Romana, you can't say you're going to be somewhere and then just not show up."

"Yeah, it's unfair and it looks bad."

"If you'll remember," Cari reminded helpfully, "I told you about twelve times that I wasn't going to go. It shouldn't have come as a shock."

"Yes, well, next time we'll come and get you ourselves!" Fred threatened.

"How exactly is that supposed to work?" Cari said, trying to keep the somewhat mocking tone from her voice. "I was in the _girls' dormitory_. You guys couldn't have gotten in if you tried."

"Sounds like, after everything we've done, you're still doubting us, Romana," George drawled, a gleam in his eyes.

"You can't get into the girls' dorms!"

"And there it is," Fred sighed, seeming ecstatic. "A direct challenge."

"It was more a statement of horrified dismay, but whatever. Please don't come to the girls' dorms," Cari entreated, trying to make it sound like she wasn't begging.

"Come to Quidditch practice and you won't have to find out if we're telling the truth."

"I'm not going to promise anything." It was the most of a concession they were willing to get from Cari, and the twins happily accepted.

* * *

 _It's a truly odd feeling,_ Cari reflected, _to be completely out of your country for one of its major holidays._

As she sat down to dinner on Thanksgiving Thursday after a long day of classes, Cari was trying not to feel sorry for herself, but she was fighting a losing battle.

"What is that stuff?" someone asked, yanking her out of her reverie.

Looking around in search of the 'stuff' in question, Cari found that a small dish of perfectly-sliced turkey had been placed directly in front of her plate. She smiled. "It's turkey. Today is Thanksgiving, after all." This was said with a tone implying that they should have known about the holiday, though Cari hadn't even considered they would.

Some of the Gryffindors started to look around, searching the other tables for similar plates.

"No one else has turkey," Lee Jordan confirmed.

"Yeah, why are you the only one?" Parvati Patil asked.

Cari smiled softly. "I have some very powerful - and very kind - friends."

After she had finished eating, Cari dug for a scrap of parchment and carefully inked ' _Thank you'_ across its width. Before she left the cafeteria, she laid the thank-you note on the plate which had held the turkey. Hopefully, the wonderful house elves would see it. She would just have to think up something that meant as much to them as their kind gesture had meant to her.

* * *

Author's Note \- Aww, Tricks and Ayu are just the best, aren't they? I love them so much! Anyway, long chapter. Long, LONG chapter. The worst we've had so far, but you made it! This is a big one, want to know why? Because I wrote all of this from scratch over the past week, fresh. Nothing was written two years ago like some other chapters, which leads me to my next point: the plot in this chapter is highly subject to tweaking in case I messed up on a detail or spelling/grammar. Thank you for your patience! I also apologize for the way this chapter bounced all over the place in terms of plot. I got frustrated with the lack of progress plot-wise over the past few chapters and I've decided to move things forward, but that means I had to start setting things up here. Sorry and I hope it wasn't overly confusing! (Also, it has come to my attention that I probably picked up Narleywhickets from another fanfiction, but I have no idea which one. If anyone knows the author, I would love to give them credit!)

ghostcrab311- Very true! Most of the teenagers I know (including myself at that age) would enjoy a school where anything you get away with is allowed, but I fully expect it would turn into a _Lord of the Flies-_ type situation alarmingly fast!

Okay, just a few more things: I'm still debating on whether I should split this story into smaller, more easily-read stories. Since I am trying not to do anything to tick off you lovely readers, I have created a poll (accessible on my profile) that will allow you to give your opinion. The poll will be open until late next Monday evening (August 14th, 2017), so please give me your input! And while I've got you here, I want to thank you guys. It's been almost a full year (tomorrow!) since I posted the first chapter of _Echowick_ and it's been a lovely roller-coaster ride. Thank you all for your continued interest, support, and overall awesomeness. You guys are the best! Have a wonderful week and I'll see you back here next Monday!


	72. Unveiled

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related characters, titles, plots, settings, materials, etc. These belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, which I earn no money for writing or publishing (cool as that would be).

* * *

Unveiled

"And you, Miss Romana?" Professor McGonagall asked expectantly, quill poised over the scroll of parchment. "Are you planning on staying at Hogwarts over the holidays?"

It was a question that had taken Cari a surprisingly long time to answer - though not as long as it had almost taken, since she wanted to discuss the options with her Aunt Kat. Normally, international mail took forever, but since Kat had a cell phone, Cari simply owled Friend John and he called her aunt to read what Cari had written (as Cari hadn't been able to get her cell phone to work at Hogwarts). Through this odd form of communication, Cari had worked out that Kat didn't mind if she came to stay in Chicago, but Kat had to work much of the time during the holidays and it would be a bit of a process getting back to King's Cross as they would have to set up two separate International Floo Journeys.

In the end, Cari had decided that it was much more convenient for her to stay at the school and passed this along to Professor McGonagall. "Yes, I will be staying here, thank you."

The witch gave Cari a slight smile as she marked the answer on her scroll and moved away.

"Cari, you're staying here for the holidays?" Ron asked, shock in his voice.

Cari shrugged. "Yeah, there were just a lot of factors that would have made it too difficult to go home."

"I'm surprised your family is okay with that," Katie Bell commented from her spot on an overstuffed armchair nearby. "From what I've heard, all of the other Echowick students are going to Floo back to the States. Most parents are freaked out by the idea of their kid being on another continent for Christmas."

Trying to smile past the knife unintentionally buried in her heart, Cari said off-handedly, "Yeah, it's just my aunt and I this year, so it seemed easier. Plus, if I stay here, I'll at least have a couple of people to spend time with. I think," she added, furrowing a brow. "Is anyone else actually staying?"

"What, worried you'll have the whole castle to yourself?" Harry asked teasingly.

"No, more like hopeful!" Cari grinned back. "Can you imagine all of the stuff I could get away with if I was literally the only student here?" She closed her eyes and sighed mock-wistfully.

"Well, sorry to kill that dream, but there are going to be a couple of us here," Ron interjected. "Harry, 'Mione, and I are staying, too."

"Aww," Cari pretended to sulk. "I won't be able to get away with anything if you guys are around. They know better than to trust you without constant supervision."

"What are we talking about?" Hermione asked as she joined their little group in the Gryffindor common room.

"Nothing much," Cari replied. "Just plans for the holidays."

"And where have you been?" Ron asked, looking her up and down. "I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen you all weekend."

"Well, you can't have been looking very hard," Hermione tossed back, settling primly on a nearby couch. "I've been around here the whole time, doing homework and studying. I've also mapped out a study schedule for my midterms and a loose plan for our finals schedule for the rest of the year. I can make the two of you copies if you want-"

Simultaneous groans erupted from Harry and Ron. "Hermione, seriously-"

"It's like you've got so much time that you have to invent new ways to waste it-"

Hermione ignored both of the boys. "Cari, I would offer to make you a copy as well, but most of your classes are different from mine."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm really not worried about it," Cari said honestly.

"How are your classes going, now that we're on the subject?" the intelligent third-year asked, tucking unruly hair behind one ear.

Settling deeper into her cushy chair, Cari let out a sigh. "They're going well enough, I suppose. I was a decent student back at Echowick, but here, the only subject I really understand is History of Magic. And that barely counts because you don't have to do anything but listen to the professor talk, remember a few facts, and write an essay or two."

"Yeah, the trick is staying awake to hear the lecture," Harry joked as Ron guffawed appreciatively.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to them. There's nothing wrong with liking History of Magic… Though I suppose it isn't a terribly _useful_ subject, is it? If you'd like, I could help you make a study plan for your classes as well as mine. I'm fair at a few of the subjects we have in common."

Cari snorted. From what she had heard around school about Hermione, she was more than 'fair' at nearly every subject. But she couldn't take advantage of her roommate. "Thanks for the offer, Hermione, but I can't take up so much of your time." Unbelievably, the girl looked put out rather than relieved and Cari hesitantly added, "But I might ask for your input if there's anything in particular I'm struggling with."

"Please do," Hermione entreated.

"Yeah, what kind of world would it be if Hermione only had her own homework to do? She'd go spare!" Ron said sarcastically. Hermione rolled her eyes again. Cari probably would have stayed longer in the common room with such pleasant company around, but a snickering Fred and George had bewitched the fireplace and it began belching ashes, so most of the students chose to evacuate.

* * *

Hogwarts at Christmastime was unlike anything Cari had ever seen. Echowick put on a fair show - especially for a school so much smaller than the British equivalent - but even their most amazing decorations for the holiday season couldn't compare to the decadent opulence of Hogwarts. Gigantic non-melting icicles hung from every conceivable edge, holly woven with tinsel was draped over all the banisters and railings, and enough mistletoe dangled from the ceilings to overjoy every couple and exasperate all of the professors.

After classes had finished on a Thursday afternoon, Cari decided to stroll through one of the fourth floor hallways. There were so many decorations in such a variety of places that the students had begun an informal gossip chain covering which things could be found where. Cari had just gotten a tip before classes that morning that the suits of armor on the fourth floor had been charmed to emit a soothing golden light and that a walk through the Armory Hall was absolutely jaw-dropping at the moment. It was something Cari desperately wanted to see, and as she had just finished her DADA class, decided to go straight there.

The walk from the third floor of the Turris Magnus to the Armory Hall was a relatively short one which also happened to tour some magnificent decorations, so Cari was greatly enjoying herself. Along the way, however, she slowly became aware of something odd: most of the students she passed were gathered into small, whispering groups. Shortly afterward, she realized that many of these groups were holding similar-looking pieces of parchment. Lastly - and most unpleasantly - she realized that almost every student was glaring at her. Decidedly not enjoying the walk anymore, Cari walked in quick, clipped steps in an effort to get somewhere less populated before anything could happen.

A vaguely familiar female student stepped directly in front of Cari, bringing her forward motion to a complete halt. "Murderer."

A chill crept up Cari's spine. "What did you say?"

"You know what I said. I know what you did. Murderer." As the girl spat the last word, she tossed the square of parchment in her hands at Cari.

By reflex alone, Cari caught the fluttering piece of parchment and scanned the words written in cramped black font. She could feel herself blanche as she gradually realized it was an article - apparently published in the newspaper for a small wizarding town near Echowick - covering the supposed events surrounding Shadow's death. The page contained very few actual facts, the grand majority being made up of speculation and blame cast toward Cari.

The overall tone of the article was that Cari was a maliciously curious girl who was driven to perform cruel experiments involving other students. In this particular case, she had persuaded an innocent boy to fly a 'theoretical model' of a broomstick - and an untested one at that. Shadow's mother had declined when asked to comment, but there was a heartbroken and accusatory statement from his father, condemning Cari for allowing Shadow to test a broomstick she hadn't been willing to fly herself. The article charmingly finished by thoroughly dissecting Cari's bloodlines before mentioning Shadow's plans to transfer to Hogwarts. The last bit speculated on the Quidditch career he might have had after graduation.

Movement from nearby returned Cari's attention sharply to her current situation. She was still surrounded by glaring students - mostly from Hogwarts, though there were one or two Echowick students in the mix. She tried to glower back, but it was made far less menacing with the tears beginning to pool in her eyes. The students began to draw closer and Cari's mind immediately flashed to the end of the previous school year and her close call with the upperclassmen in the Physical Wing hallway, though she couldn't count on anyone pulling a Murphy and getting her out of there anymore. Wheeling on her heel, Cari moved as far away from the crowd as possible, sprinting down empty hallways with the article still crumpled in her fist.

She wandered around the school for what felt like an eternity, trudging around even through the night so that she would be more difficult to find. Cari had no intentions of returning to classes, talking over the situation, or confronting any of the people she had come to know and like over her time at Hogwarts. At one point during the long night, she thought she saw the fluttering shadow of a Dementor outside one of the upper windows, but she just laughed mirthlessly. _Let it feed off of my misery,_ she thought, even the voice in her head bitter. _I have plenty to go around._

At some point the next day - from the angle of the sunlight slanting through the dusty windows, likely late afternoon - Cari's legs refused to continue moving and she obligingly stopped, slumping back against a wall and crossing her lazy limbs in an effort to be comfortable. She came close to dozing several times, but Cari was putting too much effort into not thinking. As is always the case, however, this effort failed almost instantly.

Idly, she wondered if she would be expelled from Hogwarts for skipping too many classes. It seemed rather likely, considering she had been gone for the better part of two days. _If I do get kicked out of Hogwarts_ , Cari mused, _I don't think Fleet will let me come back to Echowick. And everything will go on my record, so I don't think any other schools would be okay with taking me._ Maybe they would simply kick Cari out of the wizarding world altogether. She wasn't entirely disheartened by this, but it did leave her with a disturbing lack of options. Cari still wouldn't be able to stay at home with Byron picking things from her mind, but Kat surely couldn't continue to support them both and Cari was too young to get a real job. This all should have terrified Cari, but she couldn't bring herself to care too deeply about all of it. Things would work out, and if they didn't, she had no control over the situation anyway.

 _They'll snap my wand_ , she thought consideringly, gaze settling on the slender strip of wood resting in her lap. She had never been very good at magic, and so wasn't particularly attached to her wand, but Cari supposed she would miss the pretty thing. It had been hers for over three years now and she still perfectly remembered the statistics: Ten-and-a-half inches of pale, medium flexibility aspen wood with minimal carvings housing a single unicorn hair. Simply looking at it was enough to make Cari think over her long journey, from her parents' house on the outskirts of Echowick's forest to staying in Chicago with Kat, from wandering the streets of London and exploring Diagon Alley to the adventures she had already had at Hogwarts.

She furrowed her eyebrows, picking up her wand and feeling its familiar weight. A shower of silver sparks burst from the tip and fell shimmering around her, bringing an odd sense of peace in their wake. The pride and wonder brought Cari right back to when the wand had first chosen her.

 _That's right_ , she realized with a start. _It did choose me. I was chosen by this wand, and if a wand chose me… maybe this is my world. Maybe I_ do _belong here after all._

The thought sank into her mind, growing more solid by the moment. She belonged here. There was a place for her in this world. She might have to fight for it, but it was high time she stopped acting like she was here on someone else's sufferance. Cari had made a huge, terrible, life-altering mistake - but it was time she stopped acting as though she could bring Shadow back by refusing to live herself.

Resolve filling her, Cari stood up - a little unsteadily, since she had been moving for almost a full day, followed by sitting for what had likely been an hour or more. As she braced against a wall for balance, Professor McGonagall rounded a corner, looking utterly furious.

"LICARIA ROMANA!" she bellowed, if such an elegant and dignified witch could be said to bellow. "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you? Do you know how many classes you've missed? How many meals? Curfew? What were you thinking? Assuming you were using that particular organ at all over the past day and a half!"

Cari quietly sat out the start of what she was sure would turn into many lectures, but when the woman had stopped to take a breath, she cut in neatly with, "Professor McGonagall, could I ask you for a favor?"

"A f- A fa- I believe you first need to be asking how many months- yes, months - of detention you will be serving, young lady!"

"I'm sorry, Professor, I really am," Cari apologized, eyes lowered demurely. "I didn't mean to worry anyone; I've just been sorting through some heavy stuff for the past day or so. I think I finally have it worked out, but I need to speak to a few people before I get it over with for good. Before I get started on detention - however long you think is fair - can you get a group of people to one of the unused classrooms? I would only need them for a few minutes."

McGonagall stared at her for a few long moments while Cari struggled not to squirm under the weight of the gaze. "Miss Romana, I need you to understand that under any other circumstances, I would issue a flat refusal, but you've been an excellent student since you got here and I will allow you this one liberty. Do you have a list of students you want me to gather?"

"No, but I can put one together in just a moment." Under the professor's watchful eye, Cari dug a small container of ink from her bag and transfigured a stray twig into a quill. She began to write on a scrap of parchment, saying as firmly as she dared, "If possible, don't pressure anyone to come. If they don't choose to be there, I'll understand. I don't want anyone to be forced."

The professor nodded before collecting the paper and leaving, instructing Cari to use the next hour to take care of herself. Cari knew she wouldn't have time to shower, but she did use a mild _scourgify_ on herself, adding a few freshening spells and a hair-smoothing charm to make herself presentable once more. The rest of her time, she spent in the kitchens, being fed by eager house elves.

Just as Cari was thinking that her hour was surely up, a silver cat bounded into the kitchen through a wall. Eyeing the creature in case it was a ghost cat, Cari was startled when it approached her, Professor McGonagall's voice echoing from its general vicinity. "Miss Romana, please join us in Classroom 347 as soon as possible. All of those who agreed to come are gathered."

When Cari entered the classroom, she glanced around as subtly as possible to find that nearly all those she had invited were in attendance: Fred and George, Luna, Atrox, Neville, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Professor McGonagall explained that Katie Bell was tutoring another student and was unable to attend, but sent her apologies. Cari nodded and took a deep breath before addressing the room as a whole.

"I know, by now, most of you have heard about what happened at Echowick with myself and a student named Shadow Hale." She swallowed against the pain that came from using Shadow's name, but continued regardless. "As those who have been kind to me since I got here, I want to do you all the courtesy of telling you the truth; most importantly, I would like to tell you all that Shadow was my very best friend in all the world. With every breath I take, I fervently wish I could undo what happened, but not because of some newspaper article or what you all think of me or even for our friends or Shadow's parents. I would do it for Shadow himself, because he was a treasure, a gift to this world.

"He was so-" she choked a little as she began describing the boy she had loved, but pressed on. "He was so brave, such a good person, and so talented! He wanted to be an architect for the wizarding world. He was fascinated by this place in particular, and I just know he would have loved it here." She gave a half-sniffling laugh. "He would have driven you all insane going on and on about the moving staircases and how the building 'displays micro-layout changes in order to repel invaders'." She chuckled again. "You would know it by heart, too, if you had to listen to him rave about it for two years!"

Cari sobered once more, embracing the pain that came from allowing herself to fully explore and express her stifled feelings about her friend and his death. "Shadow is and will always be a part of my past. I couldn't get rid of him if I wanted to, but I don't want to. I treasure every second I had with him because he was the best person I've ever known."

She took a moment to collect herself, dabbing away the tears, and noticed that Hermione and Luna were doing the same. The boys were all serious and silent, Ginny and Atrox sent her reassuring smiles. Cari took heart from this and continued.

"Shadow's death was a tragic accident, but it was undoubtedly an accident. There was no malice, I wasn't trying to show off, and I was never trying to be callous to his family or our friends. Honestly, I was only at Echowick for a few days after the accident, and I spent most of that time sitting in my room working through the shock. I never got to speak to his parents and I hope someday I'll be able to speak to them again and apologize for real."

Cari gathered her courage and got to the point of her speech. "I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this is that I understand if none of you want to speak to me again after learning what happened, but you're all important enough to me that I wanted you to know the truth. You can decide what you want to do from here and I will respect your decisions, whatever they may be."

Cari tried not to look too pathetic as her speech meandered to an awkward close, but she was quickly wrapped up in a hug from Ginny, joined rather quickly by Luna. To her own shock, Cari melted into the hug, enjoying the support from both and accepting their friendship for the gift it was. When she was finally released by the two, Cari turned to find Hermione standing nearby.

The slightly-younger witch said softly, "Shadow sounds like he was such a wonderful wizard. I can tell you love him deeply. I want you to know that I never believed that article in the first place, but even if I had, your story would have convinced me that I was wrong."

"Not that I'm complaining," Cari said, "but why would you believe me instead of a newspaper, especially one quoting Shadow's own father?"

Hermione gave a little shrug. "The media is known for being less-than-truthful on some subjects. Their main focus is selling newspapers and coverage, not necessarily presenting unbiased facts. That article went against many of the things I know and have experienced about you personally, so it deserved the suspicion. I'm glad I was right." She gave Cari a quick hug and stepped back.

Harry was next, patting Cari's shoulder a little awkwardly. "I think it was really brave of you to tell all of us about this face-to-face."

"Yeah," Neville agreed, nodding admiringly. "I don't know if I could have done it."

"I _know_ I couldn't have," Ron interjected. "Pretty sure I would have just hidden somewhere until everything blows over."

Cari felt her mouth twist in a rueful little smirk. "Well, I tried that, but I realized that this whole thing isn't likely to blow over anytime soon."

Even as she was speaking, Cari's ears were tuning into the conversation between the only people in the room she hadn't yet spoken to: Atrox, George, and Fred.

Fred's voice was ugly as he asked, "What's wrong, Rosier? Holding back because you don't want to speak to someone with a past like your own?"

"Not too much, mind," George added sharply. "After all, I'm sure Rosiers never kill anyone by _accident._ "

"Actually, I just wanted to wait until I can speak to Cari with fewer people around," Atrox replied blandly. "I wanted to ask her a question."

"Why don't you let us ask _you_ a question?" George snapped, but Cari cut him off before either twin could continue needling the Slytherin girl.

"George, leave her alone! You, too, Fred! If you guys are mad at me, be mad at me. If you aren't, I would truly love to continue being friends, but you need to stop messing with Atrox immediately."

"Romana, you just don't get it," Fred said flatly, turning to Cari with eyes that had gone cold and hard. "All of the Rosiers are Death-Eaters."

"No exceptions," George agreed. "Everyone knows."

"Just like how 'everyone knows' I purposefully killed my best friend from Echowick?" Cari asked, voice dangerously soft. "Considering everything I just told you guys, I don't put too much stock in whatever it is that 'everyone' claims to know."

"This is different," George argued.

"How? Because the person in question just happens to belong to Slytherin House?"

"No, because her entire family did terrible things during the war!" Fred cried.

"I know it's asking a lot to say 'please don't hold Atrox's family history against her', but she and I have to talk as well. We're friends, and if you aren't okay with that, it's fine, but maybe it would be better if you two left for the time being." As odd as it felt to encourage the twins - two of the people she had been so scared to lose - to leave, Cari needed them to realize that Atrox wasn't her family or their choices.

"You're kicking us out?" Fred asked, disbelievingly.

"You know what, Romana? If this is who you choose to be friends with, maybe it would be better if we left," George agreed, whiskey-colored eyes hurt.

"Maybe you're right," she conceded. "I'm sorry you feel things have to be this way."

George gave a dry laugh and Fred slammed the door behind them both as they left. In the stilted silence of the slightly-emptier room, Atrox sighed. "I am so sorry, Cari. If you would rather I keep my distance, I truly do understand."

"Thank you, Atrox, but no. You're my friend and that means a lot to me. I value their friendship, but I can't stand by while they bully you. I don't like bullies. Now," she said briskly, turning to the willowy Slytherin, "You said you had a question for me?"

"Yes," Atrox agreed after a thoughtful blink. "I wanted to ask if this situation had any bearing on your departure from Echowick."

Cari nodded, meeting gazes from the remaining occupants of the room. "People were upset about Shadow. Really upset. There were a lot of threats, ones that continued even after I left the school, but the last straw was when someone cursed my desk in my Survival class. Fortunately, the professor was very wary and cast a revealing spell on the chair before I could sit in it, but he believes it probably would have been something very nasty." She sighed and admitted, "It's very likely similar things are going to start happening here as well, now that this article has been released. I don't even know how it got here."

"Malfoy," Ron answered immediately, adding shortly afterward, "Bloody prat."

"Don't worry, Cari," Ginny said fiercely. "We won't let anyone get to you."

"There's not much that can be done about it, and besides, I don't want you guys involved. If any of the students here from Echowick were the ones causing problems last year, they were dealing with some heavy dark magic. I can't have any of you getting in their way. It's too dangerous."

"It's too dangerous for you to walk around, waiting to be cursed!" Neville argued, round face concerned.

"We can take care of ourselves," Hermione reminded her. "We can't just let people attack you and be expected to just stand by and let them do it!"

"Seriously, Hermione, I can't let you guys get involved. It-"

"Romana!" Ron interrupted sharply. "All of this was about letting us decide if we want to keep hanging around you, right?" Feeling like she was walking into a trap, Cari gave a small nod and Ron continued, "Well, we've all decided and now you have to let us stick up for our friend. That's how this works."

The other occupants of the room made sounds of agreement and Cari admitted defeat, pretending not to notice the gleam of pride in Professor McGonagall's eyes at the bravery of her students - whether they were in Gryffindor or not.

* * *

Author's Note \- Ahhhhhhhhh... Finally. This was the other major plot point I developed when I was first coming up with ideas for this story's plot: Hogwarts finding out about Cari's past. Of course, there will be more of the reactions in the next chapter, but the important part is that Cari has finally made the choice once and for all to actually live her life. Anyway, I'm oddly happy with the way this chapter turned out!

ghostcrab: Thank you so much! I was worried about my portrayal of Luna. I, unfortunately, am a bit too logically-minded to write her confidently, so thank you for the reassurance!

Anonymous: Assuming you chose to keep reading after chapter fifty, I'm really sorry! I hope you forgive me and are enjoying the way the story has progressed since then. Also, thank you for the compliments and I'm glad you liked the story up to that point!

Okay, guys! That's about it for this week. Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this installment. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you all next week!


	73. Carnage

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own any right to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers and probably Warner Brothers to some extent. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Carnage

Though she had made peace with the majority of her friends, Cari's time at Hogwarts after the release of the article about Shadow had unpleasantly mirrored the end of her time at Echowick (and the beginning, when she stopped to consider it more carefully). People mostly avoided her, but when they did pay Cari any attention, it was usually to throw objects or jinxes in her direction. There were threats and speculation, but what Cari really found irritating was the whispering. There was murmuring and muttering wherever she went, no matter the time of day or who she was around.

There was animosity from every House. The Gryffindors were angry because a possible Quidditch star had been taken from them - Shadow's scoring stats were much discussed after some research and everyone was quite impressed. Even the generally-neutral Wood lamented that Shadow was never able to play at the school. For their part, the Ravenclaws were displeased because they shared Shadow's fascination with the school and its architecture, and would have welcomed another person to their discussions, especially one with such an outside perspective as someone coming from another continent. Even the Hufflepuffs were upset because, by all accounts, Shadow would probably have been sorted into their House. Cari had to agree with this assessment, much as it didn't help her own case. The only ones who seemed relatively unaffected were the Slytherins. As Shadow was a half-blood, they didn't much care about him. For the most part, they disliked Car because of her blood status - as they always had. Cari found that oddly comforting.

Cari's saving grace was that the few friends she had been lucky enough to make at the school were always around. She quickly grew accustomed to the warm, slightly stuffy feeling of having someone cast a shield charm over her and learned to cast a stronger one on her own for the few occasions when she had to traverse the corridors alone. After the harassment had lasted more than a week, Hermione had come into their shared dorm room late at night.

Speaking quietly to keep from disturbing a sleeping Ginny, Hermione had beckoned her over and presented her with a pretty bracelet made of woven leather strips. "I made this for you."

Cari nodded, trying to think of a delicate way to ask the many questions she had. "Is this-? Did you make me a friendship bracelet?"

"What?" Hermione looked puzzled, but the crinkles in her forehead smoothed as she chuckled softly. "No. I mean, I suppose, but that wasn't my original purpose. Do you see this section here?" She tapped the center of the bracelet where the strips all grew infinitesimally wider, creating a section that was slightly thicker than the rest. Cari flipped it inside-out and stared down at a small rune worked into the leather. Hermione nodded in satisfaction. "That is a protection rune imbued with a shielding charm. Together, they should help keep you safe from attacks, even if your own shield charm fails."

Slowly understanding the importance of what she held, Cari could only look at Hermione dumbly. When she finally found her voice, she said, "Thanks. Thank you… so much. Hermione, this is fantastic!"

The curly-haired third-year flushed slightly. "Thank you. I also charmed it to be waterproof, so you can even wear it in the shower, and no one other than you can remove it. I would recommend a sticking charm, however. Leather doesn't like to knot very tightly, no matter what charms are on it. I would have asked if there was something else you would prefer, but runes and charms tend to be most effective when applied to organic material."

"You don't have to explain it to me," Cari said with a shrug, engrossed in tying a knot and casting a sticking charm on her left wrist. "Besides, I kind of like it."

"I'm glad," Hermione smiled.

"Seriously, thank you for everything that you guys have been doing," Cari couldn't keep from adding. "You all are way too kind to me."

Hermione had waved her off dismissively before going to bed and Cari hadn't removed the bracelet from her wrist since. A few days later, she had been approached by Katie Bell on the way to her Charms class.

"Hey, I heard what happened- what _really_ happened. I don't blame you in the slightest."

Unwilling as she was to look a gift horse in the mouth, that was exactly what Cari had done. "You heard what, exactly?"

"Fred and George told me your side of the story. The two of them and Harry talked to the Quidditch team as a whole. They didn't give as much detail to everyone, but they asked us to be understanding. The Weasleys also talked to their roommate, Lee. He is going to be watching your back along with us." She patted Cari bracingly on the back. "You've still got friends in Gryffindor."

Cari took an odd amount of reassurance from this. Though her relationship with the twins had continued to be strained and awkward - if not nonexistent - Cari knew they were looking out for her as well. She had heard the two were serving regular detentions for casting nasty jinxes on people who were making threats against her.

The only times Cari felt truly on-edge were when she had classes alone with no friends or allies of any kind. Potions class was one such time. In a sharp turn from the way she had started the year, Cari waited until the last minute to go down to the dungeons, rushing into class at the last possible moment and hurriedly setting up before the lecture started. Eventually, as tends to happen, she cut it a little closer than was advisable and found the black-clad Potions master waiting for her outside of his classroom.

"Miss Romana," he drawled, looking down his generous nose at her. "You are late."

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape," she apologized immediately. "I was held up in the cafeteria a little longer than I expected. Do you want me to serve a detention?"

"No, I'm afraid your punishment will be far worse. You must bear with an honest discussion between us." He gave a little shudder and she tried not to smile. After observing her for a moment, Professor Snape drew his wand, aimed it at the open door to the dungeons, and muttered a spell. The chatter from inside ceased almost immediately, though Cari could see that students were still speaking. She made a mental note to ask about the spell as Professor Snape began to speak.

"I take it your charming change in routine is due to that tawdry little article spread around the school by young Malfoy and his father?"

She shrugged. "I wouldn't call it a change in routine, really-"

"You are correct," Professor Snape cut in. "It is far closer to cowardice, would you not agree?"

Cari fought to keep her expression blank, dying to argue the non-questioning question, but finding herself unable to. It didn't really matter; Snape only let her dangle there for a moment before giving a slight sigh through his nose.

"I suppose it hasn't occurred to you that by allowing this news to disrupt your studies, you are allowing the Malfoys to win? No? Well, if I may make a suggestion, you would be far better served to behave as though nothing out of the ordinary were happening. Malfoys greatly dislike being ignored."

Cari's head snapped up, searching the Professor's face to see if he was really helping her against a family who - from the rumors floating around Hogwarts - made up the majority of Severus Snape's closest allies. Of course, with Snape being an adult and an intensely-private person, Cari could discern nothing from his face.

Cari looked away. "Thank you for the advice, Professor, but the 'ignore it' theory is easier said than done. The only people who believe that ignoring makes the problem disappear are the ones who were never bullied themselves."

Something passed through the depths of the professor's dark eyes. "I shouldn't be so sure if I were you…"

Before Cari could ask what this meant, they were interrupted by a voice from nearby. "I'd watch out, Professor. The people who Mongrel spends time with end up dead."

Cari's back stiffened, recognizing Malfoy's voice and uncomfortable having him behind her. Eyes never leaving her face, Professor Snape's voice was droll as he replied, "Thank you for the tip, Mr. Malfoy. Should you not be on your way to Transfiguration by now? You are most certainly late. If this happens again, you shall find yourself losing points for Slytherin."

Cari could hear the confusion in Draco's voice at the professor's averse reaction to his attempted slight toward the currently-unpopular Echowick student. Obviously disappointed, he simply said, "Yes, sir. I apologize for my lateness."

When he had left, brushing past Cari roughly, she stood in silence with her professor for a long moment. Cari didn't say anything, but understanding and a dash of pity dawned in Snape's black eyes and she suddenly remembered all of the rumors that the professor was a Legilimens.

Before she could pull away her gaze, the professor looked at Cari with the closest thing to sympathy she'd ever seen from him. "Do not worry, Miss Romana. The school will soon find another piece of gossip to occupy their time."

Cari couldn't help but sigh. "Not a lot of comfort right now, but thank you for the thought." She offered a quick, watery smile before he canceled the spell on the door and she walked into the dungeons.

* * *

To the delight of most students, there was another Hogsmeade trip announced for mid-December. Harry was, understandably, less-than thrilled. Cari, for her part, didn't even bother feigning surprise when Professor McGonagall informed her that she would be staying at the castle. Though she hadn't served any detentions yet, she knew she was still on thin ice where the Transfigurations professor was concerned and resigned herself to a long, lonely Saturday on school grounds.

After breakfast on the Saturday in question, Cari and Harry were already in the same area after saying goodbye to their friends and so chose to wander the castle for a bit, figuring that it would keep both of them from sinking into too bad a mood. They were still walking around one of the courtyards in the middle of the school's towering walls when Cari heard familiar voices. She gave a little groan and stopped walking.

"What's going on, Cari?" Harry asked, stopping to look back at her.

"Nothing, really. I can just hear Fred and George coming down the hallway. Mostly because they're using their 'quiet voices', actually." Cari sighed. "I haven't talked to them since they were rude to Atrox and I just don't feel up to running into them now. Do you mind if I duck into a corridor until they're gone?"

Obviously trying to look as though the request was perfectly normal, Harry nodded. "I'll stay out here and distract them if I need to."

Cari thanked him and bounded away to duck into a hallway. She stood concealed behind an oddly-shaped pillar, allowing her to see out without being visible herself. In this way, she could watch, horrified, as the twins walked up and casually dragged a struggling Harry away. She followed them and stood just outside the alcove where they were talking, careful to stay out of sight but still stand where she could hear them.

Of course, such a spot took a while for her to find and then longer to settle into. By that point, she could hear George say, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Cari blinked rather pointlessly at the stone of the wall she was hiding behind. They were showing Harry the map? But to what purpose? Surely they weren't going to let him in on their biggest troublemaking secret?

As she listened, however, she heard Fred talking about passages into Hogsmeade. It almost sounded as if the twins were giving Harry instructions on which to follow. She frowned harder, scooting as close to the open space as she dared - and fortunately, the three were so focused on other areas of the castle that they didn't think to look at the map for the section next to where they stood.

"Right," George finished. "Don't forget to wipe it after you've used it-"

"-Or anyone can read it," Fred warned.

"See you in Hogsmeade!" they said together. Cari could hear the smiles in their voices, but became utterly preoccupied in scrambling away from the door the twins were exiting through.

When the Weasleys had cleared the area, Harry walked out through the same door, looking down at the square of parchment and smiling bemusedly. "Cari?" he asked after a moment's hesitation. She emerged from her hiding spot and he grinned. "Oh, there you are. What do you think? Trustworthy, or another Fred and George prank?"

Cari smiled at his wariness, gingerly taking the map he held out to her. "It's legitimate," she promised. "I've seen them use it when I'm with them and it's not booby-trapped. It's really important to them, too, so I doubt they would jinx it or anything before they gave it to you."

She glanced down at the blank map, fascinated to see text scrolling across the empty expanse.

 _Mr. Padfoot kindly asks that the lady not grip the map hard enough to rip it in half._

 _Mr. Wormtail would like to add that she is surprisingly strong for someone with such small hands._

 _Mr. Moony urges the young lady to go do more interesting things than speak to a piece of parchment._

 _Mr. Prongs wishes to state that this is a perfectly nice piece of parchment to converse with, but warns that Professor McGonagall is walking in this direction._

"Oh," Cari said, folding the parchment again before passing it hurriedly to Harry. "The map says that McGonagall is headed this way. If you're going to use this, you might want to do it soon."

"Okay, brilliant," he said a little breathlessly, accepting the map. "Want to go to Hogsmeade?"

Cari smiled but shook her head. "No, I probably shouldn't. McGonagall promised to find me later today. I think that's why she's coming here, probably wants to give me some pre-detention chores or something. If she can't find me, it might give you away. You go ahead and I'll cover for you if anyone asks questions."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, frowning. "I can stay behind if you'd rather. I don't want to leave you here alone."

"Are you crazy? I know you've been wanting to go to Hogsmeade from the beginning. Go! Enjoy yourself, I'll be fine." Smiling once more to assure him, Cari walked away, leaving him to follow his new map to Hogsmeade and the rest of his friends.

Only a few minutes later, Professor McGonagall found Cari where she was wandering near the bottom of the moving staircases. "Miss Romana, I need you to accompany me, assuming you are not otherwise occupied?"

"I am not," Cari assured, knowing that the professor wasn't actually concerned. "Do you want me to get started on my detentions today?"

"Not exactly," the older witch said mysteriously. "We are going to the Headmaster's office."

Trying to ignore the uncomfortable dropping sensation in her stomach, Cari followed Professor McGonagall up staircases and more staircases, moving around corners and down corridors. It was a completely different direction than Cari would have taken if she had been attempting to get to Professor Dumbledore's office, but McGonagall seemed to know where she was going and they arrived at the Headmaster's office in a surprisingly short amount of time.

As they made their way up the marble staircase outside of Professor Dumbledore's office, Cari could feel her pulse pounding. _Are they actually going to kick me out of Hogwarts? McGonagall didn't say anything about it after she found me, but maybe he looked at everything that happened and decided that detention wasn't enough of a punishment… What am I going to do?_

Bracing herself for a lecture followed by the worst news she could receive right then, Cari followed Professor McGonagall into the darkened room. To her surprise, Kat stood there, silhouetted against a glowing fireplace as she chatted animatedly with Dumbledore.

"Kat?" she gaped, staring at her aunt.

"In the flesh! …Well, in the nineteen layers of wool required to travel to Scotland in winter, but I'm here!" Kat wrapped Cari in a tight hug, one which Cari eagerly returned. "It's good to see you, kid!" Kat pulled back a little to frown commiseratingly with her niece. "I heard what happened with that little Malfoy brat. I'm so sorry."

Cari stepped back a little so that she could see her aunt, adding a small shrug to the movement. "It's okay, actually. I have some really great friends who are sticking with me. I guess I have you to thank for that," she said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

"What?" Kat asked innocently, but Cari shook her head.

"I know you asked everyone at the Leaky Cauldron to keep an eye on me. I was mad at first, but it's really worked out, so thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome, I guess," Kat teased, ruffling Cari's curls. "Friend John says hi, by the way."

"Ooh, so you're in conversations with Friend John now?" Cari asked, and the two moved to a somewhat more secluded area of Dumbledore's cluttered office to talk. Behind a large stack of thick and dusty books, they found a cushy-looking couch that proved to be perfectly comfortable after Kat shot it with a quick dusting spell and a charm for general cleanliness that took care of the slight musty smell.

Kat asked about the article first, obviously curious, but not wanting to bring up a sore subject. "Was it awful? I mean, not about what happened. That _was_ awful. I mean, were they at least fair in the way they presented the facts?"

Cari blew out a breath, trying to figure out a way to phrase her response that wouldn't sound too self-pitying. "Let's just say that there weren't many facts presented."

"I see," Kat said, expression dark. "Want me to sue them for slander?"

"With what money?" Cari asked teasingly. "If the wizarding world is anything like the Muggle one, lawsuits are expensive."

"Very true," she agreed. "Want me to track down the reporter and curse them?"

"Kat!" Cari laughingly berated.

"Oh, all right. You're no fun," she chided, but smiled when Cari continued chuckling. "I'm glad you're handling everything so well."

Cari thought about everything that had happened since the article had been released, but decided not to bother bringing it all up. It was far easier to simply agree with Kat. "Yeah, it's just really lucky my group of friends has been so understanding."

Kat nodded knowingly, face taking on an apologetic expression. "By the way, I'm really sorry. I talked to Dumbledore about it, but he says there's no way to change your answer on staying at Hogwarts over the break. Something about a list that had to be turned in to the MInistry so that the Dementors could be warned about who to attack. From what he said, it wouldn't be good to switch things up now."

"That's okay," Cari assured her, grinning at her aunt's skeptical face. "I'm serious! I mean, I get to spend the holidays in a magical castle with a couple of friends and hopefully no one who hates me. Plus, the house elves are super nice and they make sure I always have soda. Should be pretty awesome."

"If you say so," Kat said, doubt in her voice. "I'm still going to write you as often as I possibly can!"

"You don't have to do that. I mean, I love hearing from you, but that's a lot of work," Cari said dubiously. "You know how the international mail service is kind of a pain."

"It might be less trouble than you would think," Kat said mysteriously.

Cari frowned at her, but Professor Dumbledore ambled around a corner. "Ah, Miss Romana the Elder. I hate to pull you away from your conversation, but the International Floo window for your journey is nearly ready to close. If you don't wish to ride the Hogwarts Express back to London and apply for another permit, I believe it would be best if you finished up with your niece."

Heeding the Headmaster's advice, Kat stood and pulled Cari into a hug. "It was so good to see you, Cari! I'm sorry for the way things have turned out this year."

Cari shrugged. "Honestly, it's gone better than I thought it would. But it was really great to see you, too! I hope you have a merry Christmas and I'll write as often as possible." She furrowed her brows and added, "At least, after you give me a head's up about the less-troublesome mail service."

Kat promised to do so and the two said their goodbyes. Cari walked her aunt to the fireplace, careful not to stand too close, and waved as Kat spun away, leaving the reluctant Gryffindor alone with her Head of House and the Headmaster.

Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly at her. "Did you have a good visit with your aunt, my dear?"

"Yes, sir," Cari affirmed. "Thank you for letting us use your office."

"No trouble, no trouble," he waved off.

Professor McGonagall stood. "If you're ready, Miss Romana, I believe it is nearing time for lunch. I will escort you to the Great Hall."

Cari agreed, said goodbye to the Headmaster, and followed Professor McGonagall out of the office. They walked quietly for a few moments, but Cari broke the silence with a chuckle. Professor McGonagall looked at her in askance and Cari grinned. "I really thought I was going to be expelled and that was why you were taking me to Professor Dumbledore's office."

Professor McGonagall stared over at her. "Not that I hope your situation is one that will ever be repeated, but I can assure you that the Headmaster used expulsion as an absolute last resort. He prefers using any other means to keep a student here, enabling them to continue gaining an education. He believes - as do I - than an education is something no person should ever have to be without. However," she continued, a frosty tone entering her voice, "I hope that you will not take this information as authorization to break the rules put in place for your safety. Our love for learning is not an all-purpose excuse to misbehave and risk the safety of yourself or your fellow students."

Making sincere eye contact with the woman, Cari held up two fingers in the scout's salute. "I promise, I wasn't even considering doing something like that. I have no plans to break rules and I hope to avoid getting into any more trouble over the rest of the school year."

"I should hope not," the professor sniffed.

Cari fought back a chuckle in time to say, "I need to stop off at the Tower really quickly. I'm sure I can find my way from here if you want to go on ahead?"

"That is acceptable, provided that you join your fellow students at the meal eventually. You wouldn't want to add to your list of detentions."

Nodding fervently, Cari said, "No more trouble, remember? I'll be at lunch right after I freshen up." With that, the student and professor split apart, each headed a different direction.

When Cari entered the dorm, she found an intently-concentrating Ginny reading on her bed. Cari grinned as she saw the oddly-familiar cover and recognized it. "Hey, _Methods and Habits of Successful Flight Professionals_! I remember that one. It has some solid advice."

Ginny looked up at Cari as if the older girl had gone completely insane. "Why have you read this? I thought you didn't even know how to fly."

Cari snorted. "I definitely know how to fly, I just choose not to at the moment for obvious reasons. But in my first year, I wanted to learn and my Headmistress wouldn't let me until I wrote her an essay. That was probably my favorite source."

Ginny nodded and marked her page before closing the book. "So, where have you been? I thought you were hanging out with Harry?" Ginny had decided to take more of a hands-off approach where Harry was concerned, but she still kept informed of his whereabouts.

Shrugging, Cari decided she shouldn't give anything away in case Harry wanted to keep the Marauder's Map a secret. "McGonagall came and took me to Dumbledore's office. Kat was there and we talked for a while. It was nice." Frowning, she remembered Kat's confusing final statement and relayed it to Ginny. "I don't know what to think. Maybe she found a more convenient way to send letters across continents?"

Ginny chuckled. "No, I heard from an unnamed source that Kat is going to be spending some time over the holidays with John."

Cari gaped. A part of her wanted to be offended, but the larger part was happy for her aunt. "I should have known," she groaned. "She looked way too relieved that we got interrupted before I could ask any questions." She shook her head, deciding to put the revelation out of her mind. "Whatever. I need food. Want to go get lunch?"

Ginny grinned at her. "Sure, I know better than to argue with a hungry Romana. Your Aunt Kat gets super hangry and I just don't want to risk that you got that gene, too."

Rolling her eyes, Cari tossed a pillow at her friend, who gave a very un-Ginny-like shriek and batted it away. "No! I can't be another nameless hanger statistic! Spare me!"

Both girls collapsed briefly into giggles before finally beginning their trek to the Great Hall.

* * *

Author's Note \- The brief return of Kat! Yay! She's honestly one of my favorite characters to write. I also really loved having Cari 'converse' with the Marauder's Map, especially since I've gotten oddly into Marauder's-Era fics lately. And, yes, before anyone can leave any angry reviews or messages, I did take a number of liberties with the scene in which the twins give Harry the Map. Had I included the whole scene in its entirety, this already-long chapter would have been significantly longer. I hope it doesn't tick anyone off too badly. (If it does, you may want to try meditation or switching to decaf, because you are wound too tightly, my friend.)

ghostcrab311: Thank you! It may be a little while before we see any kind of resolution for the situation with the twins, however. I didn't realize until I had already committed to having Cari stay at Hogwarts that Fred and George actually went back to the Burrow. Killed my big conflict scene, but I decided this works out a little better. Thanks, by the way, for being my steadfast reviewer. Your words have been more encouraging than you'll ever know!

All right, that should be about everything for now! Next chapter, Christmas! (In August, really sorry for the awkward timing.) Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, have a wonderful day, and I'll see you next week!


	74. Christmas At The Castle

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, plots, etc. These belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Christmas At The Castle

It had been a quiet couple of days at the castle. The day after the Hogsmeade trip, the grand majority of students had left. After saying goodbye to the few who didn't look as though they would cheerfully strangle her with a Twizzler, Cari didn't bother waking up to see everyone off. By the time she woke up, got dressed, and descended the staircase into the Gryffindor common room, there was no one around at all. This was a blissful change for someone who was used to being packed in with hundreds of students at every turn, but Cari was a little concerned that she could find absolutely no one. After all, Professor McGonagall had been keeping a fairly close eye on her over the past few weeks.

As luck would have it, the first people she ran into were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They called greetings when they saw her, but Hermione explained that they were in a bit of a rush, as the hippogriff that had 'attacked' Draco Malfoy was to have a trial. If Buckbeak was found guilty, he would be killed. The three third-years were determined not to let this happen, and were eager to help Hagrid - Buckbeak's defense - in any way they could. Cari agreed that they should head to the library and begin finding books about building a defense, but also offered her services to read over the finished product. After listening to Lionel and Iagan go back and forth about different legal terms and their possible applications, Cari felt she had a decent grasp on the various ins and outs of the legal system. It was only after they had thanked her and left that Cari realized most of her knowledge might be questionable since it was acquired through two other people who were learning about the Muggle legal system in America, and there were likely to be some differences.

Doing her best to let the three form the defense without any interruptions, Cari spent a lot of time alone. She had visited the library several time in the first few days and eventually began picking up magazines and periodicals having to do with Charms, Transfiguration, and Herbology. For some reason, the materials that went directly into discussions - assuming that the reader already knew about the basics of the subjects - helped Cari fill some of the gaps in her knowledge.

Another unexpected benefit of the school being so empty was that the professors were bored. Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout all were willing to speak to Cari at length about the different theories she found in her new sources. Through some magic of the new perspective, listening to experts speak enthusiastically about their field, or a combination of the two, Cari found herself with a new appreciation for her classes, and spent much of Christmas Eve Day finishing the essays and questions she had been assigned as homework. With that set aside as done and a new confidence in her own abilities, Cari was finally able to relax and enjoy her vacation.

On Christmas morning, Cari celebrated the holiday by sleeping in. For the first year, there was no excitable Lydia, impatient Fleet, or demanding Byron. She woke only briefly when Hermione left the room. It felt absurdly early and only the girl's muttering about joining the boys in their dorm as they opened their presents managed to wake her up. Cari, still half-buried under a pile of covers, garbled out a 'Merry Christmas' and waved drowsily at her roommate as the other girl left.

From the look of the sunlight seeping into the room, it was several hours later when she woke up for real. Cari struggled to an upright position, dragging fingers through her explosive-looking curls as she glanced around the room for signs of Hermione's return. There were no such signs, but, to her surprise, Cari did spot a small pile of presents near the foot of her bed.

Briefly wondering how the presents had gotten there - she decided it probably had something to do with the house elves - Cari reached down and began sifting through the stack of presents. They were a variety of sizes and all wrapped in different styles.

As she would have expected - assuming she had been expecting presents at all - the one on top was from Kat. Cari unwrapped it carefully to find a beautiful cashmere scarf, the tassels edging the ends long enough to trail the ground if she didn't loop it several times around her neck. It was a deep maroon shade, and just thick enough to keep her warm without the chance of getting overheated even while moving between inner and outer hallways on her way to various classes. It was an incredibly thoughtful present, and Cari was glad she had gotten her aunt a pair of beautiful silver earrings with some help from Friend John. (She had also used mail order to get him a package of his favorite sweets - licorice wands - as he had been so helpful about communications between Kat and herself.)

The next gift was from Hermione. Cari opened the package to find a complete study schedule for her next semester of classes, including a list of specific books Hermione herself had found helpful in reference to individual subjects. It was perfect, especially since Hermione had made special note of which books could be found in the Hogwarts library, which ones she owned and could be borrowed by Cari, and which were special and more difficult to find - for these last, she included several alternatives. Cari had thankfully thought ahead far enough to get Hermione a present as well: she had contacted Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley to see if they had any equivalent to a Muggle gift card. They had, and Cari had put down a few Galleons for her friend.

The next present was from Harry and Ron, who seemed to have gotten together to create a care package of Honeydukes sweets. The boys had proven a bit more difficult to shop for. Cari had followed Hermione's advice and steered away from anything broom-themed for Harry. The accident with the Nimbus was still a bit of a sore spot, and she didn't want to cause her friend any pain. Instead, Cari had gotten Harry a bag of owl treats for Hedwig. For Ron, Cari had considered simply telling him where the kitchens were, but instead had managed to track down a Quaffle for sale, one signed by his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. When she had sent the seller an inquiry about selling price, he had mailed the Quaffle to her for free, citing his disgust at their continued incompetence as a team.

The gift under that was odd. It was wrapped, but by the way it shifted when Cari lifted it, there was nothing particularly firm inside and so she opened it with care. Sitting atop a lovely, hand-knitted sweater was a Christmas card from the Weasley family, signed by everyone except for Ron. Cari noted that the picture must have been from the family's time in Egypt, as everyone was very tan and standing in front of a pyramid. Cari couldn't suppress a little giggle when she saw the notes Fred and George had written above their signatures: George's said, 'Do mummies enjoy being mummies?' Fred's, written just to the right, answered, 'Of corpse!' Cari wanted to believe that this was the twins's attempt at a peace offering but, as it was the twins, they had likely written this little exchange on every card their mother had made them sign. Even not knowing Molly very well, Cari was sure the red-headed woman had been less-than pleased by their joke. She did feel bad about having not sent anything to the Weasleys. The heather-gray sweater was thick and warm, the wool luxurious. The only bad thing about it was the large letter 'L' on the front. Cari really didn't want to walk around Hogwarts trying to explain why it was an 'L' and not a 'C', but she was still touched by the family's thoughtfulness toward her on a day when they surely had so many others to consider.

Putting the sweater aside and internally resolving to write a thank-you card to the whole family, Cari jumped slightly at an odd fluttering noise. She looked around for the cause and found another, separately-wrapped gift about the size of an envelope on the floor next to her bed. When she opened it, she drew out a square of parchment that was charmed to show the layout of Hogwarts Castle. It seemed to be greatly similar to the Marauder's Map, but without the moving dots. After some experimentation, Cari found that it could be made to show different areas of the castle in more detail, including some of the tunnels and secret passageways. There was a short note from Fred and George, saying that they had figured she could use the help getting around unseen. Amusingly enough, she had done something similar for their gift, though obviously, they didn't need a map at all. Instead, she had studied the warded protection bracelet Hermione had made, done some research of her own, and made ones for both boys. She used a rune for stealth, paired with an embedded 'Notice-Me-Not' charm and then added a strengthening charm on top of that. She had sent them off only the evening before, after much debating with herself. Cari knew she was on the outs with the twins, but she had worked on their presents for so long and put so much effort into it that she felt she needed to send them. She had included only a short note with hers: _'In case you don't have time to brew before you go.'_ In the end, Cari had figured it would reinforce her insistence that she had no problem with either boy as long as they stopped antagonizing Atrox.

At the very bottom was a small, unmarked package. By the time Cari noticed that the box was warm and beginning to vibrate slightly, she was already pulling the lid off and internally cursing her naivety. It was dangerous to open a mysterious, unaddressed package in the castle at the moment.

As she removed the top of the small box, Cari drew back slightly to protect herself in case something flew out of the package, and had a fleeting moment of triumph when something did indeed whir up from the now-open box. Small pinpoints of light flew up to roughly eye-level and exploded in bursts of red and gold fireworks, spelling out the words, 'Malfoy is a bloody git'. Cari laughed appreciatively before she could remember how tense she was supposed to be. When the small display had faded - it took several minutes - she glanced down into the box. Furrowing her brow, she drew out a long, impossibly-thin cord, at the end of which was a small charm shaped into a black paw-print. Cari smiled softly, thinking of the dog she hadn't seen around the castle since Halloween night, then frowned slightly as she realized that no one other than the twins and Tricks had known about the dog. Logically, if the necklace had been from George and Fred, they would have included it in their other present instead of sending it separately, and Cari heavily doubted that a house elf would send her a Christmas present. From what she understood after some research of their culture, the small creatures simply didn't place the same value on such things as humans did.

Trying to push thoughts of who the gift was from out of her mind, Cari donned the necklace, letting the charm settle against her sternum. She was nervous for a long moment, praying that she wasn't about to be violently hexed - if not cursed - but nothing happened.

After a long moment, Cari realized that the room was growing a little chilly. It was fairly common in the towers - in fact, it seemed to be their fatal flaw - so she got dressed and moved down to the common room, where a fire was cheerfully blazing behind the grate of the fireplace. She spent a blissful hour dozing on the couch in front of the fire before she was interrupted by a huffing Hermione, stomping through the common room, arms full of a spitting-mad Crookshanks.

Cari sat up at their appearance, but Hermione hardly seemed to even realize Cari was there, instead rushing through the room before climbing the stairs toward their room. While Cari waited for her roommate to come back down and explain what had happened, she realized that there were a handful of stockings hanging above the hearth and one had her name on it.

Cari was halfway through digging out the fun-sized selections of candy, perfume, lip balm, and other assorted goodies when Ron came tumbling down the stairs. "Cari, come here! You have to see this!"

Obligingly, Cari stood, but Harry rushed down to stand behind his friend and hissed, "Ron! She probably doesn't want to see it. Don't you think it might be a little too soon?"

Cari frowned. "I'm sure it's okay, whatever it is."

"Told you!" Ron cheered, disappearing back up the staircase for a long moment before returning with a broomstick.

Cari couldn't stop herself from gaping. It was beautiful. The broom's lines were long and clean, giving it an elegant appeal that made Cari's fingers absolutely itch to look it over, examine the charms and runes more closely, but she held back. "Where did you get that?"

It wasn't accusatory, but Harry's face still fell. "That's the problem. It wasn't addressed and I think 'Mione is worried it's too dangerous to keep since I don't know who it's from."

Cari sighed. "I mean, she has a point, but what are you supposed to do with it?"

"I dunno," he admitted, absently stroking the twigs of the tail.

"We- well, I was kinda hoping you wouldn't mind taking a look at it," Ron asked hesitantly as Harry glared reprovingly at him. "I mean, you took classes for this stuff, right? Could you tell if it's jinxed?"

Cari thought it over for a moment, but shook her head. "I don't think my opinion is going to be good enough to risk your safety, especially with my history." Both boys looked disappointed, but accepting. "Is there any chance I could look at it anyway?" she asked, unable to fight the urge to hold the magnificent broomstick.

Harry agreed willingly enough and passed off the broom to Cari. Ignoring her need to simply stare at the Firebolt, Cari checked the charms and runes. All seemed to be in place, and the balance was perfect between the handle and the tail. Finally - and against her better judgment - Cari cast the diagnostic spell Mr. Kreer had used to search for a curse. She explained things to Harry and Ron step-by-step and they looked gradually more excited as she continued to not find any signs of tampering.

As she reluctantly handed the Firebolt back to Harry, she couldn't help but remind them both, "There are still a lot of things that could be wrong with the broom. As far as I know, that spell only checks for general curses, but if it's a minor curse or even an intense jinx, it could still be enough to hurt the rider, but not strong enough to register with the spell." She sighed. "It's a beautiful broom, and I swear I understand wanting to try it out right away, but I have to say that I can see Hermione's point. It would make more sense to have it checked out by some of the professors."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry conceded.

"The real question is: How are we going to ask the right teacher in the right way so they don't just take the broom away completely?" Ron asked skeptically. It was a good question, and they all paused for a long moment to think over the conundrum.

"I mean, I don't know as much as you guys about the professors here," Cari started, "but I would think about going to ask Professor Flitwick. He knows his stuff, but is nice enough to understand that you don't want the broom confiscated. Plus, he seems laid-back enough that he wouldn't ask too many questions about whether you should get rid of it completely."

"What if Harry just told everyone that it's always been his broom, but that it's been flying funny and he wonders if there's been a hex put on it? That way, they could still check for everything, but he wouldn't have to worry about everybody panicking."

Cari shook her head, shooting down the idea immediately. "Hexes and jinxes on brooms should be taken really seriously. Every time you kick off, you're risking your life. Besides, whoever you decide to have check it is going to want to know what specifically is happening when you try to fly it and you won't have an answer that doesn't narrow the search in a potentially dangerous way." Cari could see that neither boy looked convinced and decided to play her trump card: "Most importantly, Harry losing his broom was witnessed by the entire school. I'm sure someone would ask questions if you just showed up with a new broom that you've supposedly been flying for a while."

"They don't have to know it's new," Harry objected. "I was in Diagon Alley for a while over the summer before leaving for Hogwarts and I was looking at the Firebolts. I could say that I decided to buy one on impulse and just kept it secret."

"That's true," Ron pointed out. "After all, Harry's always had a first-rate broom, even in first year, and no one asked questions about it then."

Cari raised a skeptical brow. "No one asked questions, but how many stories and rumors went around this school about how you got a new Nimbus, Harry?" He shrugged, looking sheepish, while Ron's face fell completely. "I'm sorry, guys," she apologized. "I think you're just going to have to be up-front about the broom and hope there's nothing wrong with it."

"Fine," Harry accepted grudgingly while Ron just nodded.

To Cari's surprise and pleasure, both boys stayed with her in the common room for some time after their conversation ended, opening their stockings, talking about presents (Ron was thrilled with his signed Quaffle, and Cari didn't have the heart to tell him no one else wanted it), and sharing how Christmas dinners usually went at the castle. The only thing that would have made the afternoon perfect was if Hermione reappeared, but Cari hadn't seen her since she retreated to their dorm.

Eventually, she worked up the nerve to ask if either boy knew what had happened, and both let out sounds of exasperation. Cari heard what she was sure was a very biased version of events, nodding sympathetically when Harry complained that Hermione didn't even give the Firebolt a chance and Ron ranted about how Crookshanks kept trying to kill his pet rat, Scabbers, and Hermione didn't try very hard to stop it.

The highly-upset Ron even produced the rat in question and Cari did all she could not to physically recoil. She didn't mind rats - even thinking some to be quite cute - but Scabbers was a different case altogether. He had fur only in patches, and his body had grown thin to the point of looking malnourished. If Cari looked closely, his ribs were clearly visible, heaving with the effort of simply breathing. His yellow eyes bulged, and it looked as though his crooked teeth were barely clinging to receding gums. Cari would never offer an unsolicited opinion on something like this, especially on Christmas Day, but she was familiar with sickly animals from her time working with creatures from the woods with her father Daniel. Privately, she thought that it looked as though Scabbers wasn't long for this world.

Fortunately, before anything completely awkward could happen, it was time for Christmas dinner, taking place in the Great Hall in the late afternoon. As it happened, there were a handful of professors present, along with the Headmaster, a Hufflepuff first-year, a Slytherin fifth-year, Harry, Ron, Cari, and Hermione, who showed up several minutes after the other three Gryffindors. Cari tried to catch her eye and gesture for her to sit at the next place, but Hermione seemed to be carefully avoiding everyone's gaze. Cari didn't know if it was a product of the awkwardness shared between the four Gryffindor students or some other cause, but the dinner was uncomfortably tense and Cari gratefully excused herself as soon as it was polite to do so.

She retreated to the common room, joined once more by Harry and Ron, the former of whom brought his Firebolt back down so that they could admire it. Only a short while later, the portrait swung open to admit Hermione, followed by McGonagall.

Despite the protests from both boys, the Transfiguration professor quickly seized the broom, explained that it would be thoroughly searched for any signs of tampering, then probably returned to Harry. Despite the comforting tone in which the words were delivered, Cari could see a hint of panic in Harry's eyes.

McGonagall swept from the room, leaving Hermione to stare back at the three others in silence. Ron broke the quiet with a hissed, "What did you go running to McGonagall for?"

Hermione was immediately enraged, biting back, "Because I think - and Professor McGonagall agrees with me - that that broom was probably sent to Harry by Sirius Black!"

After her declaration, the common room had erupted into complete chaos. Ron had begun shouting, Hermione was trying to defend herself while obviously fighting tears, and Cari attempted to mediate between the two while Harry simply sat in his armchair, a heart-breakingly betrayed expression on his face.

Eventually, Hermione burst into tears and sprinted up the girl's staircase while Ron stomped up the boy's. Harry, not responding to Cari's questions about his mental state, drifted up the same stairs a few minutes later, obviously deep in thought - and from the look on his face, those thoughts weren't pleasant.

Left alone in the silent common room, Cari had to fight a case of the giggles. They were mostly brought on by stress, but she couldn't help but think that this was far from the worst Christmas she had ever had. Eventually, though, she made her way up to the dorm she shared with Hermione, pausing for a moment to make sure the other girl had stopped crying. The curly-haired witch didn't seem like someone who would appreciate having someone come in on them during a moment of weakness.

She heard nothing, however, and opened the door to find a rather puffy-eyed Hermione lying on her bed, reading a book while Crookshanks curled up beside her, purring. The girl had turned a bit to see who was entering, and Cari lifted a hand in awkward greeting. Hermione nodded warily and Cari made sure her tone was gentle when she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Hermione asked off-handedly.

"Come on," Cari scoffed. "That was a pretty intense screaming match downstairs. It was more drama than I've had for my whole life!" She paused, then admitted, "Okay, that's not true, but still, it might help to talk about it." Hermione didn't answer and Cari sighed, choosing words Kat had said months before. "Well, if you change your mind, I'm a pretty good listener with a pathetic amount of free time, so let me know."

She ducked into the bathroom to change for bed and when she came back, Cari was surprised to find Hermione sitting upright on her bed. Crookshanks had moved to her lap and Hermione looked ready to talk. "I know they think I'm awful. I know and I don't care."

Cari nodded encouragingly, gesturing to the other girl's bed. "Do you mind if I sit down?" Hermione agreed and Cari settled on the foot of the bed, crossing her legs comfortably. "They don't think you're awful. They're surprised and upset and Ron never has an even temper at the best of times. Give them a few days and they'll see you were right."

"But what am I going to do until then? They're my only friends!" Cari quirked a brow and Hermione blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, not my only friends."

"You're okay, I get it," Cari comforted. "I know I'm new and a year ahead, so we don't spend a ton of time together. We can be casual friends and you would still miss those two."

Hermione nodded miserably. "They just don't seem to understand that I just care about them. That broom is dangerous, and with how many enemies Harry has, they would be so much more careful. If I hadn't stopped them, they would have taken the broom out this morning and tried to ride it without a second thought!"

Cari shuddered at that. Broom safety had been such a major issue in her life so far that the idea was truly horrifying. "I'm glad you were there to stop them. Did you know they asked me to check the broom for jinxes?"

"That's terrible!" Hermione cried indignantly. "They know you have a rocky past with brooms. How could they?"

"It's okay, I didn't mind that much," Cari smiled. "I checked it for them, but I told them that it needed to be looked over by professionals. I guess I said a lot of the same things you did, and they were starting to accept that we know what we're talking about." Hermione nodded thoughtfully and Cari added, "Not that they wouldn't have listened to you anyway without my help. Your theory makes sense, a lot of sense. It's logical to think about safety, especially with how much trouble Harry's had over the past few years. They know you're just looking out for them, and they'll come around soon."

Hermione looked unconvinced, but Cari didn't know what else she could say, so she stood. Against what she was comfortable with, she patted Hermione on the shoulder. "You did the right thing."

"Thank you, Cari. I'm glad we are friends."

"Me, too," Cari said, adding with a sudden grin, "Partially because I've heard from several people that you're scary when you're angry."

Hermione smirked back at her. "Don't make me angry... You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Both girls burst out in laughter, bonding over their mutual connection to the Muggle world. They stayed up late into the night, Hermione explaining the study schedule and Cari producing a list of new titles from Flourish and Blotts. It was the first time since Echowick that Cari laughed and whispered until the lights went out. She had missed the experience.

* * *

Author's Note \- Hello, all! It's been far too long, and I would like to apologize for that. I do have an excuse, however. In order of occurrence, I experienced an arm injury, a case of sun poisoning, a surprise visit from family, and preparations for a hurricane. It's been the longest month or so of my life! Incidentally, if I am ever forced to miss a posting deadline, I try to at least update my profile so you guys know what's going on. Now, my dear readers, for the bad news...

Due to the above-listed reasons, not only is this chapter inexcusably late, but I have no others written. I find myself tragically behind in my writing and will thus have to adjust posting deadlines so that I don't give myself a nervous breakdown or something similar. I am posting today, but Chapter 75 will not go up until the Monday after next. I promise, I'm going to do my best to write like crazy over the next two weeks to see if I can return to weekly postings, but I ask you all to please bear with me! I apologize once more and thank you all for your patience. I would especially like to thank my Guest reviewer on the last chapter. You have some interesting ideas! I'll see what I can do, though I already do have some plans you might like... :)

All right, everyone, that should be it for this week! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful day! If you live anywhere that's having issues with natural disasters, just know that I'm praying for you and please stay safe. See you all in two weeks!


	75. The Students Return

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These all belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

The Students Return

After Christmas Day and the spat between Hermione and the boys, the rest of the break was spent trying to prevent any clashes between the two. The only reason Cari managed it was that both groups were as eager to avoid any confrontations as she was. The boys spent their time in their dorm or wandering the grounds. Harry confided to Cari eventually that he was using the map to make sure they traveled through Hermione-free areas.

For her part, Hermione was practically living in the library. The only real proof that she ever went elsewhere was her occasional collapse in the dorms, sleeping deeply with Crookshanks curled nearby. On several occasions, Cari could tell from her wet cheeks and blotchy face that the younger girl had cried herself to sleep.

Cari couldn't convince either group that a truce was in their best interests. The boys argued that they wouldn't be okay with Hermione unless the witch apologized, but she refused to do so. Hermione was far too convinced that she was right to be suspicious - and Cari couldn't exactly argue - and so would not apologize. The stalemate was rough, but since neither group would budge, Cari did her best to stay out of things.

She eventually made one exception to this rule, but she felt it was for a good reason: it was unfair that there were two boys but only one Hermione. Harry and Ron could talk to each other, build each other up, and remind the other that they were right to be angry. Meanwhile, Hermione had no one to do any such thing for her. And so, sick of watching the younger girl study, do homework, and work on Buckbeak's defense alone in the library every day, Cari moved her own studies to the same room.

At first, Hermione had been suspicious, casting Cari skeptical looks over the stacks of books surrounding her. Eventually, though, she seemed to grow convinced that Cari wasn't being motivated by a misplaced sense of pity. Cari didn't feel bad about her methods, either. She was doing her best to stay on top of her classes, and having instant access to more books was only helping her achieve her goals. _Besides_ , she told herself, _the library is nice and warm, unlike Gryffindor Tower._ (Despite all of her excuses, nothing beat the justification Cari felt when Hermione asked her help with phrasing a certain section, or mentioned that she could use another hand in researching a legal precedent.)

Finally, the uncomfortable break drew to a close, and the whole castle seemed to steady itself as the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Cari was lounging in the common room as the students' arrival drew ever-closer, trying to decide what she should do. She had narrowed down her choices to two: one, face the masses outright and get their reactions out of the way, or two, duck into the dorm room she shared with Hermione and Ginny, leaving potential confrontations until dinner, when the group would be supervised by nearly every professor.

Just as she had decided to go for the second option, a grumbling Ron loped down the stairs and into the common room, speaking over his shoulder, "Come on, Harry! Just come with me!"

"No way, mate!" Harry called, voice floating down the stairs. Ron sighed, seeming disappointed, but not surprised.

"What's going on?" Cari asked curiously. "Where are you going?"

"Down to the Entrance Hall," Ron answered gloomily. "I have to meet all my siblings, and I just know Gin's going to be hanging out with Looney Lovegood."

"Looney..?" Cari trailed off, trying to figure out who Ron was talking about. "Wait, you mean Luna? I like her, actually. She's a really sweet girl."

"She's a total nutter," Ron argued. "Mum says I have to be nice to her since she and her family are our neighbors, but I don't like her. She gives me the creeps."

Cari burst out laughing, taking a older sister's pleasure in the offended look Ron cast her way. "Could you try to sound a bit more like a five year-old? Luna might be a little odd, but she's harmless. You don't even have to talk to her. Just go see your siblings and don't tick off your mother."

"Yeah, my mum can be a bit scary when she's angry," Ron said with a shiver, but he soon turned a hopeful look in Cari's direction. "Any chance you would come with me? It's just to the Entrance Hall, and you can distract Luna… Come on, Romana, please?"

She didn't want to. She _really_ didn't want to. In fact, she was almost desperate not to see her schoolmates - especially the twins - but couldn't seem to gather the will to say no to Ron. The puppy dog eyes he gave her were just too reminiscent of Byron… After a quick check to be sure she was wearing the protection charm bracelet Hermione had given her, Cari sighed and nodded her agreement. Suddenly not nearly so depressed, Ron nearly bounded through the portrait ahead of her.

On the plus side, Cari was so busy trying to keep up with Ron's half-running form that she couldn't focus too much on how she was approaching the entire student body of Hogwarts, most of whom had hated her the last time she had seen them.

To her pleased shock, Cari was mostly ignored by the passing students. There were a few dirty looks cast in her direction, but she shook them off with the ease of long practice. She would be ready in case the hostilities resumed, but until that actually happened, Cari was going to simply enjoy the peace and not ask too many questions.

After the first rush of students had died off, Ron groaned. "Told you," he said simply, pointing at the spot where Ginny walked side-by-side with Luna.

Cari rolled her eyes, trying not to feel nervous about the twins, trailing a little behind Percy as they whispered and laughed together. Trying to distract herself, Cari reopened the debate about the blonde Ravenclaw, "I really like Luna. You should try giving her a chance, maybe she'll surprise you!"

Ron gave her a droll look. "Romana, I grew up with the girl living next door. She and her father are two of the same, and Mum kept inviting them over after Luna's mum died. She's surprised me plenty of times, but none of them have been good." He eagerly noticed the approach of the girl in question. "Ah, and here she is now! Guess we'll have to stop talking about her or it will be rude."

Ginny walked up to the pair of them, scowling, and began to rant without preamble, "This is the last time. The last time, Ronald!" Ron, seeming taken aback, opened his mouth, but Ginny pointed threateningly at him. " _I- will- not- sit- through- another- Christmas- without- Mum- having- you- to- shout- at!_ That's all she did! A whole holiday at home and all she does it nitpick at me. No more! If you're staying at the castle, then I am, too."

Trying to stifle a giggle, Cari looked to Luna, who nodded in confirmation. "It was interesting. I've never heard anyone get so shouty so often."

Percy paused in his attempt to walk by in order to cast a frown at Luna. "Well, that's rather unkind, Luna. My mother took you and your father into our home out of the kindness of her heart and you choose to cast aspersions?"

Luna looked faintly surprised, pale eyebrows creeping up her forehead. "I wasn't being unkind. I can say that your mum was being shouty without saying that she was wrong."

"Hey!" Ginny cried, looking betrayed. "She _was_ wrong! I didn't _do_ anything!"

"You don't _think_ you did anything," Luna comforted. "To her, you might have done everything to deserve it."

Ginny frowned, obviously turning her friend's word around in her mind as she attempted to understand. Percy seemed to have given up completely and turned to Cari instead. "How is everything going, Licaria?"

Cari searched his face for signs that he was joking or being cruel - surely he had heard about her issues before the holidays? - but his face remained politely inquisitive. "Uh… Everything is fine, Percy. Thank you for checking."

He nodded briskly. "All part of being the Head Boy."

With that, the eldest Hogwarts-dwelling Weasley marched away, leaving Cari to stare after him and try not to laugh. She looked back at the Weasleys who were still around and quirked an eyebrow, hoping they weren't offended by her silent judgment of their brother. The twins shook their heads, Ginny rolled her eyes, and Ron quietly muttered, "Prat."

The single word broke the awkward quiet and all of the Gryffindors burst out laughing, and even Luna smiled over her shoulder as she drifted off toward Ravenclaw Tower. "Couldn't have said it better ourselves," George congratulated, slinging an arm around Ron's shoulders.

"We've been thinking about ways to take him down a few notches," Fred agreed. "He's getting completely insufferable."

"Bill and Charlie made us promise that we wouldn't do anything too damaging, though."

"Speaking of the Great Graduated Ones, they've sent presents for you, Ron."

"Really? Where are they?" Ron asked eagerly.

The twins exchanged sly glances and Cari could tell this wouldn't end pleasantly for Ron. George grabbed his younger brother in a headlock and ruffled his hair ruthlessly, ignoring Ron's scuffling and shouts to be released. Eventually, he let Ron stand back up and grinned broadly. "That was from Charlie. He said he would have liked to give it to you himself, but you didn't come home."

"Bill, on the other hand, sent you something a little more sophisticated," Fred chipped in, affecting an upper-class accent. Suddenly, his wand was in his hand and he made a funny little wriggling motion. " _Rmeasa saroub_."

"What- the bloody-" Ron stuttered out, having to constantly break off his question in favor of scratching violently at his arms and neck. "What was that?!"

"An itching curse he learned off of a bloke at Gringotts. Another curse breaker." George looked unconcerned at the way Ron's face had reddened until it was nearly purple. "Bill said it's a present for Hermione as well. She loves ancient curses. She'll be able to work out the counter in no time."

"I'm not- We aren't- AUGGHHH! She isn't speaking to me you _great- bloody- TOSSERS!_ "

Unfortunately for Ron, Professor Snape was passing by at the time of his shouting and turned back with a highly-displeased look on his face. "Young Weasley, I believe a detention would be in order. Can't have you shouting filth in the Entrance Hall, can we?" With that rhetorical question, he swept off toward the dungeons.

Ron stared after him, enraged, as the twins laughed. "Wicked," Fred grinned.

As Ron wheeled to glare at him, George shrugged. "You'd best start making up with 'Mione, mate. No one else is going to know how to counter that curse."

The youngest male Weasley cast a disbelieving glare at his older brothers and stomped off toward the Gryffindor dorms. Ginny eyed him before turning to Cari. "I'm going to need a full report on that situation later." Cari nodded, but before she could audibly agree, Ginny had pulled her into a tight embrace. "I was busy being mad before, but it's nice to see you, Cari!"

Cari couldn't help but smile, patting Ginny's back as she hugged the younger girl back. "It's nice to see you, too! How were the holidays for you? Other than your mom, of course."

Finally releasing her from the hug, Ginny shrugged. "Not too bad. A bit boring, actually. Not a lot going on." She glanced down at Cari's clothing, frowning. "Is that your Christmas sweater from my mum?"

Cari looked down at the heather gray wool before nodding. "Yeah, it's a little cold in the castle this time of year and it feels nice." She raised an eyebrow at her friend's simple robes, worn without a cloak. "I don't know how you're not freezing."

Ginny shook her head. "The real question is why your sweater doesn't have a gigantic letter on it. Seriously, I saw it before Mum mailed it off and there was a massive 'L' on the front of it. How did you take it off?"

Shrugging, Cari said, "I didn't. I just turned it inside out and used a uniforming charm to make it all one color. You can see the seams look a little funny, but it's comfortable and warm and I love the color, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. The 'L' is still on there, so I can wear it other times when your mom is around and I won't hurt her feelings."

After making her roommate promise to teach her how to do the charm, Ginny began towing Cari to the Gryffindor dorms so they and Hermione could have a nice 'catch-up session'. Abruptly remembering that the twins had never walked away, Cari looked back over her shoulder to see them watching her leave with their sister. As she met two pairs of whiskey-colored eyes with her own gray ones, Cari saw them smile and raise the sleeves of their shirts to show the bracelets she had sent. They nodded to thank her and she smiled before turning forward. Ginny had missed the entire, nonverbal communication, but a part of Cari relaxed now that she knew the twins weren't irreversibly angry with her.

* * *

Classes started the next day, and a return of responsibilities soon followed. Cari had been informed of her final count for detentions from Professor McGonagall. She knew she was in trouble and McGonagall had definitely told her more than once that she was going to have to be punished for disappearing like she had, but Cari couldn't help but feel that the Head of Gryffindor was letting her off rather easily. In the end, Professor McGonagall had assigned Cari ten detentions. She had explained it as one for each class missed - four in total; one for each meal missed - three in total; and the final three were for missing curfew.

Besides the low number of detentions, Cari was shocked to find out that there were no assigned times they had to be served. Instead, Professor McGonagall had simply informed Cari that she could do as many or as few each week as she wished until they had all been served. The only stipulations were that she couldn't go to Hogsmeade until all detentions were completed, and they had to be served by the end of the school year. Other than than, Cari was free to handle the punishment however she wished.

If this wasn't enough to convince her, Cari was sure from the gleam in McGonagall's eye as she dismissed the fourth-year Gryffindor that the professor didn't actually want to punish her. Yes, she had to for appearance's sake - and because Cari admittedly had been foolish and dangerous in the way she handled things - but it seemed that Professor McGonagall understood and sympathized far more than Cari would have thought was possible. Obviously, she didn't tell many people about these rules. It would be beyond rude to let the Transfigurations professor get into trouble for her laxness when it benefitted Cari.

Cari, being the over-enthusiastic student she always was, had chosen a rather accelerated course that would allow her to finish the detentions by the end of January. It didn't hurt that none of the detentions were very strenuous. She did everything from prepping materials with Professor Sprout to neatening up the library with Madam Pince to testing potion ingredient freshness with Professor Snape.

Besides getting her out of trouble a bit earlier, serving the detentions had the added bonus of freeing Cari's time up for studying and doing homework. Her classes began steadily intensifying, all in the name of preparing for the big tests taking place next year for Cari: the OWLs. It seemed that Hogwarts had the same idea about specializing in certain subjects as Echowick did, but they went about realizing that idea in nearly opposite ways. While Echowick steadily decreased the class number from an early year, Hogwarts seemed to have a big snapping-off of subjects after the fifth year. Students had to test in all subjects for their OWLs, but then they would continue on in only the subjects they had gotten above a certain score in, which they would then be tested on in their seventh year.

Cari didn't have to worry about all of this, of course, as she would be returning to Echowick in time for her fifth year, but she could understand all of the stress her fellow students were going through. Vaguely, she wondered how all of this affected the Echowick fifth years who had come to Hogwarts, but wasn't close enough with either of them to comfortably ask questions.

She wasn't hated anymore, to her surprise. Instead, it seemed that the holidays had distracted most of the Hogwarts students, bringing their attention to other matters. The only ones who kept bringing up the revelations of the newspaper were two second-year Ravenclaws who were known for being gossips. and Draco Malfoy, who was known for being a vindictive moron as well as a gossip. Since no one of any consequence cared overly much about Cari's past, she did her best to keep it from her mind.

Of course, there were other things occupying Cari's attention, drawing her focus away from school and even social issues. The biggest one of these - and the one that took up the most of her time - started on the first day of Cari's DADA classes for the second semester. As soon as she had set foot in the classroom, Professor Lupin beckoned her over. Cari went willingly enough. Things were still somewhat awkward between her and the Weasley twins and she would welcome the chance to be legitimately distracted when they entered the classroom.

Miss Romana," Professor Lupin greeted politely. "How were your holidays?"

Cari gave a polite smile. "They went very well, sir. And yours?"

"I cannot complain. There is something I wished to discuss with you, however." Cari nodded agreeably and he began to speak softly, as though worried about being overheard - despite the fact that the room was nearly empty. "Professor McGonagall told me the truth of what happened at Echowick before you left." Cari frowned and began avoiding his eyes. It was only the first week back and she wasn't really ready to begin delving into her past just yet, not if she could avoid it for longer. The professor persisted, however "That is why you struggle so much in the presence of Dementors, is it not?"

The question was asked gently enough that Cari didn't mind nodding. She didn't feel up to verbally confirming his theory, but it was something she had wondered about in the past, and it made sense to her. "There is a way to counter the effects of a Dementor attack, you know," the professor dropped casually. Cari snapped her gaze up to meet his and he smiled, nodding. "It's a charm, dead useful, but it is far too advanced and complex to be taught in a regular Defense course. Not that I don't think it should be!" he hastened to add, "But it simply isn't feasible."

Cari frowned. "Then why bring it up? I assume it isn't something I can learn on my own from a book or something, right?"

To his credit, Professor Lupin did seem to consider her question carefully. "I suppose it would not be impossible, but it would be very difficult. If you are interested, I am going to be teaching a private lesson on performing the charm, done in as many installments as necessary. The only stipulation is that I feel it is only fair for me to ask the other student if you may join in, but as long as he agrees, you would be welcome to attend as well. Does that seem like something you would be interested in?"

It only took a moment for Cari to think over his proposal and nod enthusiastically. A way to change the way Dementors made her feel? A way to lessen, or even stop, the feelings of listless dread and melancholy she felt after simply being in the same area as one? Of course she would take the opportunity!

By the time their class met again that same week, Professor Lupin had an answer for Cari: the other student was fine with her joining their sessions and the first one was scheduled to take place the next Thursday at 8 pm sharp.

Cari came to the Defense classroom nervous, but was stunned and comforted when she found that the other student attempting to learn the Patronus Charm was Harry. He greeted her kindly, and Professor Lupin was quick to explain that they would be using a boggart to mimic the effects of a Dementor attack as none were allowed on school grounds. Fortunately, Harry's boggart _was_ a Dementor, and that was how they would learn the charm. Professor Lupin then went on to add that, in order for the boggart to keep its shape and not transform to frighten Cari, she would need to stay behind Harry and let the creature focus on him.

With that, the pair got started, but it was slow going. By the end of their first session, Cari was both frustrated and emotionally exhausted. As it turned out, most of her good memories that would be strong enough to draw upon for the charm involved Shadow, who was the very memory brought forth by the Dementors. Professor Lupin asked her to think on ways around the conundrum and promised to do the same. As she retreated to Gryffindor Tower for the night, Cari tried to tamp down a small surge of satisfaction at the knowledge that Harry hadn't done much better than she had.

Fortunately, after the second (equally-unsuccessful) anti-Dementor lesson, Harry and Cari knew they had a bit of a distraction coming up in a Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin only two days later. Deciding it was silly to walk from the Defense classroom to the Tower separately, they walked together and talked about the match and its implications for House standings. Of course, this sparked an entirely different conversation about Gryffindor's upcoming matches and the immense pressure Harry was under to ensure victories (Cari's words, not his).

Feeling abruptly sorry for her friend, Cari frowned sympathetically over at him. "This is going to sound stupid, but is there anything I can do?"

Harry shook his head, but soon turned back toward her with an odd, cautious look in his gaze. "Actually, there might be. Is there any chance you'll agree to come to one of the Gryffindor Quidditch practices?"

Cari sighed. "Harry, it isn't that I don't want to, but-"

"I know it's stressful to be around flying after what you went through, but we really do our best to fly safely," Harry interrupted earnestly. "We don't try to do dangerous things on purpose, and if you get really uncomfortable, you can just leave. All that matters is that you try to come."

A sudden thought struck her and Cari shot a sharp look in Harry's direction. "I don't suppose you've been talking to the twins, have you?"

"No, I swear," he responded, holding up his right hand as if he was swearing an oath. "But I can tell that they haven't been themselves… and you haven't been, either. I just think that coming to a practice would be a nice gesture of peace, you know?"

"I guess," Cari agreed gracelessly. "But it doesn't really help you, does it?"

Harry shrugged. "When my friends are happy, I'm happy."

Cari gritted her teeth as she struggled unsuccessfully with a wave of warmth for Harry. She had heard stories of his young childhood and the terrors he had underwent, and yet he was still kind enough to care so deeply about his friends… She couldn't turn her back on that kind of loyalty. "Fine," she said tiredly. "What times are the practices?"

As they walked through the portrait hole, Harry began excitedly rattling off practice times for Cari. She was so absorbed in committing them to memory that she almost didn't notice the two silhouettes waiting by the fire. "Hey, Romana," George greeted uncomfortable, then a slow smile spread across his face as he glanced over at Harry. "Were you two talking about Quidditch practice?"

"Does it matter?" Cari deflected.

"Well, no, not really," Fred admitted. "But it does make this next part a little easier to deal with."

Cari quirked a brow and fought the instincts that screamed for her to move out of the range of fire, but the twins just looked down at her solemnly. "May we speak to you in private, Cari?"

After a long moment of hesitation, Cari nodded and they led her off to a deserted part of the common room, populated only by a low coffee table and a group of comfortable armchairs. The three settled themselves in these and boys began delivering what was obviously a well-prepared and practiced speech:

"We have a lot of siblings," Fred started.

"A lot," George agreed.

"And with a big family like ours, we're used to looking out for each other."

"Yeah, we've had to keep an eye on Ron and Ginny since they got here."

"Supposed to keep them out of trouble, you know?"

George grimaced. "Failed on that one."

"True, but now we know better," Fred conceded with a shrug. "Anyway, Romana, we just fell into treating you like Ginny."

"We forget you're closer to our age than hers."

"We were just trying to look out for you, but we went about it wrong."

"All wrong," George agreed.

"So, can you forgive us?" both asked in simultaneous sincerity.

"Of course," Cari answered without hesitation. "I'm an older sibling, too, so I get it." Fred and George both frowned and began asking question about siblings, but Cari held up a hand to stave off their questions - thinking about Byron was a little much this close to the holidays. After some thought, she added, "I don't think you really need to keep an eye on Ginny, either. I know about what happened last year, and I know that it put you on edge, but she's smart and tough and can honestly take care of herself just wonderfully."

Fred smiled and shrugged helplessly. "We're not sure it's something we can help."

"Older brothers, you know?"

"Yes, I've seen so much of a protective instinct where Ron is concerned," Cari mused, shooting the twins a mischievous smile.

"Merlin forbid," George smirked back.

"Besides, Gin was doomed from the start," Fred explained. "She's the youngest, and the only girl."

"And we do mean _only_ girl," George added. "First female born in a Weasley family for generations."

"What?" Cari asked, fighting a horrified expression. _I mean, it's possible for a family to genetically lean toward having boys or girls, but no girls in generations? That sounds like a literal curse…_

"Yeah," Fred nodded. "Everyone else has married in."

"Makes us even more protective of Ginevra," George admitted.

"But anyway! We'll try to stop treating you like you're our younger sister, Romana," Fred summed up.

"Right," George agreed with a firm nod. "We'll do our best to start listening to those famous Romana instincts."

"'Famous Romana instincts'?" Cari repeated, rolling her eyes. "That's going a bit far, but just listen to me when I say I don't think someone is trying to kill me. Sound fair?"

"Definitely," the twins agreed together.

"Now, Romana," George started, scooting his armchair a little closer. "Tell us more about these bracelets you've sent us."

"We're intrigued," Fred said with a grin. "Are you encouraging us to start trouble?"

"Definitely not!" Cari denied instantly. "I just figured with all of the detentions I had to serve, it would be better to not have you two in with me."

Both boys fell back dramatically, clutching at their hearts.

"Oh, Romana!"

"You wound us!"

Cari shrugged carelessly. "I can get away with a lot more when you two aren't around to make the professors suspicious."

Her assertion was met with more groans and proclamations of overly-hurt feelings.

* * *

Author's Note \- Well, the twins and Cari have finally made up! Also, I know this chapter was a lot of 'time passing' kind of stuff and it sucks and I'm sorry. But it had to be done. And while I'm apologizing, sorry for how late this chapter is being posted. Writer's block is a real thing, and my muse has been kidnapped by a completely different story. Rest assured, however, that I am working on a solution to this and the next chapter should be posted promptly on Monday, October 9th.

Thanks to ghostcrab311 for the review! Here's hoping that there haven't been any Dementor or lethifold attacks in your life lately! :)

Okay, everyone. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have a great day and I'll see you in a couple of weeks!


	76. Foul Play

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, materials, plots, settings, characters, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Foul Play

Cari couldn't manage to fight back a shiver as she climbed the semi-enclosed staircase to the Gryffindor stands. The shiver could have been caused by the weather, as the temperature was sitting well below freezing, especially with the wind chill. However, it was more likely a reaction of dread, stemming from the fact that she had been suckered into coming to this Quidditch practice and that it was going to be horrifying. There was just no way it wouldn't be.

As she settled reluctantly onto the bench, wrapping her cloak a little more tightly around herself, Ginny bumped her shoulder. "Come on, Cari!" she said brightly from where she was perched further down the bench. "It's Quidditch! It's supposed to be fun, and you're out here looking like you're miserable!"

Cari shot the younger girl a pained, longsuffering expression before turning back toward the pitch. The Gryffindor team was just beginning to filter onto the scrubby grass and Ginny broke off mid-exasperated sigh to lean forward so she could get a better look. The redheaded second-year had volunteered immediately to come along when Cari had reluctantly admitted her agreement to come to a practice. Ginny said that she was going to support Cari, but both Cari and Hermione knew the truth: Ginny would take almost any opportunity to be around Harry, even from a distance. In fact, considering her feelings for Harry and her love of Quidditch, Cari was only surprised that Ginny wasn't already a regular at the team's practices.

All of the focus on Ginny couldn't distract Cari from the hot, twisted, molten metal ball of nerves currently dominating her stomach, however. As the Gryffindor team kicked off, Cari couldn't keep herself from watching the collection of silhouettes as they soared through the air above the pitch.

Once she had managed to calm herself down from the initial levels of panicked adrenaline, Cari could admit to herself that the practice wasn't quite as bad as she had expected it to be. For the most part, it was made up of Oliver Wood calling the team over to explain a theory or technique, sending everyone off to attempt it, and calling them back to evaluate and fine-tune, or bring up the next technique. A lot of their attempts were familiar, bringing Cari back to her time as a referee. In fact, she had some advice on foot position for Alicia, but she didn't know if the girl would accept it. Unfortunately, she was soon distracted by the split in practice as the team moved to their second half: scrimmage.

The team shortly divided itself into two groups: Katie and Angelina were the Chasers on the same team as Fred while George teamed up with Alicia and Harry, who stepped in as a replacement Chaser on his outdated school broom. Oliver remained the Keeper, simply adding the scored points to the correct team based on who had thrown the Quaffle.

At first, Cari was distracted by watching Harry, smiling secretly at the realization that she probably shared that particular issue with the girl next to her. Not too long after the practice match had started, she had to bring her focus to another, less-pleasant problem: The twins, having chosen to split up, had moved into showing off, each trying to outdo the other. Cari felt she wouldn't have been quite so nervous if Wood hadn't seen fit to release the Bludgers for the twins to battle. Instead of hitting them at the members of the other team, Fred and George seemed content to constantly bat the flying hazards at each other - at full power, no less.

The absolute worst was when they discovered that the Bludgers were built to keep up with their targets, no matter how quickly the person flew. Once this fact had been established, the twins sped around, whipping through the air quickly enough to make them hazards themselves. To his credit, Wood yelled at them both to watch out after they had nearly collided with Harry - "Idiots!" Ginny hissed venomously - but it only served to make the boys move further out and up than the rest of the team was flying.

As they circled the pitch nearing what had to have been close to one-hundred miles per hour, Cari couldn't tear her eyes away from the ginger-haired blurs.

"Calm down, Cari," Ginny urged, eyeing Cari's tightly-clenched fists with an air of concern. "Think of it this way: the worst that can happen is that they get hurt doing something stupid they decided to do. Instant justice."

"Sorry," Cari replied, forcing her muscles to relax. "I'm sure that was wonderful advice and I would follow it, but I didn't hear anything after 'they get hurt'."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but couldn't fight a chuckle as she returned her attention to the action on the pitch. Cari, meanwhile, couldn't stop herself from watching the twins.

The next time the pair looped around the Gryffindor stands, both boys lifted a hand to wave cheerfully at her. "Keep your hands on the broom!" Cari screeched, hardly recognizing her own voice.

"Oh, now you've done it," Ginny giggled next to her. Cari turned to her younger roommate and lifted a brow in silent question. Ginny shrugged and answered, "Now that they know it bothers you, they're never going to stop. It's kind of their thing."

No matter how fervently Cari wished the prediction was incorrect, Ginny was right. Every time the twins got remotely close to the Gryffindor stands, they would raise one or both hands, perform a dramatic dive, turn upside-down (which told Cari that their charms were outdated and needed refreshing), or tease her in some other way. The final straw for her was when George reclined slightly on his broom, lacing hands behind his head in a mimicry of comfort. Cari would have ignored it, but he wobbled. George wobbled on his broom, a hundred feet in the air and zooming by, and it was all Cari could do to swallow back the flashbacks.

Suddenly infuriated, Cari stood and began picking her way through the stands toward the stairs. Instantly, Fred swooped down to hover in front of her. "Where are-" he paused to hit a Bludger back at his twin, "Where are you going, Romana? Practice isn't over yet!"

Planting fists on her hips, Cari glared up at him. "First, neither of you two are practicing anything except your trick flying skills. Second, I'm sick of the stupid stunts you're both pulling! In answer to your question, I am leaving the stands, either to go back to the main grounds or to find a broom so I can fly up there and lecture you two idiots myself, but either way, I'm done. Move."

Fred's grin widened as he continued hovering right in Cari's way. "There's that Romana temper! I thought it started hibernating in the cold."

"Ha, ha," Cari bit out acerbically. "I'm being serious, get out of my way."

"What's going on?" George asked, gliding down to hover next to his brother.

"Romana is mad at us. Thinks we're being unsafe and wants to leave," Fred shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Is that so?" George smirked. "She must not think very much of our skills."

"Skills?" Cari scoffed. "The only 'skills' you two have are the ability to get on my last nerve. Now, for the last time, move!"

The twins looked at each other and grinned. "Nah," they replied simultaneously.

Cari sighed and pulled out her wand, ignoring the faux-shock in the twin's voices as they tried to guess what she was going to do to them. In a few short motions, Cari took advantage of the outdated runes on their brooms and reversed the root rune, the one that allowed brooms to fly in the first place: the Flight Rune. With the skill of all the practicing Professor Gregory had made the Broomsmiths-in-training do, Cari deactivated the Flight Rune, sidestepped the confused twins blinking up at her from the floor, and descended the staircase.

At the bottom, she exited the canvas-wrapped stands to find the remainder of the Gryffindor Quidditch team waiting for her. Thankfully, all of them looked amused - Harry and Katie in particular were laughing aloud - but Oliver looked less-than pleased.

"Er- Licaria, is it?" he started hesitantly.

"Cari," she answered simply.

"Cari… Is there any way I could convince you to make our Beaters's brooms fly again? They seem to be having trouble with that part of things right now and I can't help but wonder if that's because of you…"

She turned and glanced back up at the top of the stands. Ginny was laughing uproariously as the twins, gripping their defunct Cleansweeps between their knees, tried repeatedly to kick off. It didn't work. Fighting her own grin, Cari nodded. "Yeah, I disabled one of the runes on their brooms. They were in my way."

"Ah. Yes, they tend to do that. Can you fix it?" Oliver's tone was somewhere between curiosity and scarcely-contained fear.

Cari shrugged. "Yeah, I can. It's an easy enough fix, but _will_ I fix it? Maybe. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for those two to have the power of flight."

"Fair enough," he admitted. "But, as irritating as they can be, they're very fair Beaters and it's too late in the season to train new ones. Will you please fix their brooms?"

"I guess. You'll have to get them to come down here, though. I'm not walking all the way back up the stands just to help them with a problem they caused for themselves." Cari knew she sounded grumpy and petulant, but that was how she felt, so it was no matter.

"Ohh, can I tell them?" Alicia asked gleefully.

"I don't see why not," Oliver replied.

Giggling a little to herself, Alicia zoomed back up to the top of the stands, spoke to the twins, shook her head a lot, and hovered for a long moment. Then, she made a beckoning gesture and moved a little closer to the side of the stands, helping Ginny onto the broom as well. Cari was nervous, knowing that the weight of both girls had to have been pushing the limits of the broom's capabilities, but they made it to the ground safely.

Moments after they touched down, the twins burst out through the doors to the stands, panting and glaring at Alicia. "Really, Spinnet?"

"You couldn't give us - your own teammates - a lift-"

"-but you can help a second-year you've never said four words to?"

"How did you stand to live with them growing up?" Alicia asked. Before Ginny had a chance to answer, Alicia turned back to the twins and said in her snottiest voice, "That was ten words, by the way."

"It involved a lot of patience and family love." She smirked and dropped her tone into a conspiratorial mutter as she added, "Plus stealing my mum's wand so I could jinx their pillows to smell like troll's feet."

"That was you?" Fred asked, horrified.

George looked just as floored beside him. "Merlin, how many times did we get revenge on Ron because we thought he did something?"

Ginny let out a loud guffaw. "That only makes it better for me," she admitted.

"Can you fix their brooms?" Oliver interrupted. "They're sorry for teasing you."

"Are they?" Cari asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at Fred and George. They both nodded fervently and she shrugged. "Okay, hand them over."

Cari sat on the frozen ground, ignoring the chill radiating up into her comfortably crossed legs. Everyone looked confused, but the boys handed their brooms over to her with no questions asked. It took only a moment to reactivate the Flight Rune. Cari was even nice enough to put a temporary Refreshing Charm on the rest of the runes to pump up their power a bit.

When she had finished, Cari passed the brooms back to the proper twin and stood. "Well, they'll fly now, but you both need to consider getting new brooms - or at least, getting the runes refreshed. They wearing down and it must be pretty bad. I shouldn't have been able to disable the main rune while it was active."

Both boys looked surprised, but accepting. "We'll look into it," George promised.

"Okay team, follow me to the locker room," Oliver said, obviously trying to restore order. "We'll finish up in there and then everyone will be free to go."

Eagerly - while still managing to complain about how cold it was and how ready everyone was to go back indoors - the team bundled off to the locker room while Cari and Ginny began the long trek back to the castle.

* * *

The next Thursday was a good day. Classes hadn't been overly-strenuous, the castle had for some reason been five degrees closer to a bearable temperature than normal, and Cari began to see actual progress during her Patronus lessons with Professor Lupin. She and Harry both had some success, to be fair. It wasn't much, but it was definitely a step in the right direction, and enough to excite the two students. Instead of the wispy fog they had been producing, Harry had performed the charm and been stunned to see that a shape was visible. It wasn't defined, not by any means, but there was definitely a shape inside.

Cari had made no such progress, but was more determined than ever to master the charm. By the end of the class, she had gotten a shape to appear as well, unclear as Harry's, but still enough to be exciting. Professor Lupin told them both that it was too early to begin guessing what the Patronuses actually were, but they didn't follow this advice.

"Mine is big," Harry said confidently. "It has four legs, that's for sure."

"Mine too," Cari agreed. "It looked pretty similar to yours, but maybe a little more bulky."

"That's true, it did look like yours had a lot more mass to it."

"Yeah, but yours was so tall! It looked like a good protector."

"Patronuses of any size, shape, or mass are good protectors," Professor Lupin cut in dryly. "That is why we're working to master this charm. You both could have an ant as your Patronus and it would still be enough to frighten away the Dementors, carry messages, and do anything else you need it to."

Both students sheepishly agreed that he was right and began getting ready to leave for the night.

"Harry, might I have a word?" Professor Lupin asked before they walked out of the door.

"Of course," Harry replied. "You don't have to wait if you don't want to, Cari."

"It may take a while," Lupin warned.

Picking up on the hints that she should leave, Cari bid both of them goodnight and strode through the door, thinking on the way about what memory she had pulled up to conjure as solid a Patronus as she had. Memories of Shadow still held the greatest joy, but they were also too emotionally volatile to be depended upon as Patronus material. Instead, Cari focused on the memories she had made at Hogwarts: laughing with Hermione and Ginny, mastering difficult potions, and - in the most recent session - dumping the twins from their brooms.

"Miss Romana!" a voice called, pulling Cari from her reverie of identical stunned expressions on freckled faces.

She glanced around to find a familiar face smiling at her. "Sir Smethwyck! I haven't seen you since Christmas!"

The self-knighted broom innovator nodded, crossing arms over his well-worn brown robes. "It has been a while, has it not? From what the portraits are saying, you've had quite the busy month."

"The… What?" Cari asked, floored. "You mean that the portraits talk about people?"

"Of course," Sir Smethwyck said, as if it should have been obvious. "What else is there for us to do all day?"

"What all do you talk about?"

"Oh, everything," he explained blithely. "The professor and their teaching styles, how things have changed since we all were painted, which students are promising and if any of them remind us of students who came through here years ago, Quidditch… When the only thing we can do is talk, the topics have to be varied." The man made a face. "Of course, some of the classless portraits like to gossip, talk about which students are the best looking or what they look like under their clothing."

Cari gaped. "That's- horrible! How would they even know something like that?"

"You would be surprised which areas in this castle have portrait frames. Take a good look around. Even if the frames are empty, that just means someone could come into it later."

Nodding, Cari committed his advice to memory and fought back a blush as she asked the next question. "Do any of the portraits talk about me?"

"Yes, but nothing negative." Sir Smethwyck held up a hand to stop her question as he began to explain. "After so many year here, being a portrait is similar to being invisible. No one looks at you, much less speaks to you, and you begin to feel worthless. You speak to me, but you also look at the other portraits. You smile when you make eye contact, you nod, you look at them like they are present rather than just a part of the castle walls. It means much to us, and you have gained a reputation as a result."

"A reputation? But I don't think I talk to anyone but you and the Fat Lady."

"You don't, not really. And yet, the other portraits see your interactions with us and they form an opinion. We don't have much thinking power, but what we do have, we use. Your kindness has not gone unnoticed, Miss Romana."

Cari didn't know how exactly she was supposed to respond to his compliments, and quickly changed the topic to the upcoming Quidditch match.

* * *

She had just found a comfortable seat in the Gryffindor common room when someone burst in and the room exploded into cheers and excited talking. She and everyone around her who couldn't see began craning their necks in an attempt to see who had just walked in. It was only when Cari gave up and stood gingerly on her squashy armchair that she could see Harry, triumphantly holding the beautiful Firebolt up in the air.

Cari jumped down and joined the crowd around Harry, listening to the mutters about how they couldn't possibly lose the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw now. She agreed wholeheartedly, especially when she fought her way through the throngs of people to find a cheerfully-chattering Quidditch team surrounding Harry and his new broom. Oliver Wood especially seemed ready to bounce away in an elated frenzy.

Everyone seemed to be asking to fly the broom, but Harry kept shaking his head. Cari couldn't blame him. He should have some time to enjoy his new broom by himself, without having to share with anyone.

"Cari!" he said, catching sight of her through the crowd. "Look what Professor McGonagall gave back! Can you believe it?"

"I'm glad there was nothing wrong with it," she agreed. "I'm surprised you aren't already flying!"

Harry grew a little pink as he admitted, "It's dark outside. I want to be able to see everything when I fly for the first time on this."

"That makes sense," Cari agreed. "So, first thing tomorrow?"

"I think I'll be outside the moment the sun rises," he chuckled before fixing her with a questioning stare. "Do you want to come along?" She furrowed eyebrows at him, but Harry just shrugged. "I thought you might want to take a ride as well. You're more qualified than half of the people who keep asking."

Cari grinned, touched. "I don't really fly much anymore, but thank you. It was very nice of you to offer, Harry. Enjoy your broom!"

He smiled at her and turned back to the crowd that had formed around him. Cari made her way back across the common room, idly watching as Ron carried the Firebolt gently up to the boys' dorms. Just as she began to sink into melancholy, lamenting the loss of the release that came with flying, Ron came barrelling down the stairs, dragging a sheet. Between the shouting and confused talking, Cari could make out that Scabbers was missing and there had been blood and cat fur on Ron's sheets.

While Cari didn't especially care for the way Ron was talking to Hermione, she felt bad for the boy. Judging from both the reaction and the current expression on his face, Ron was genuinely upset and hurt that Scabbers was missing. _Well, with that amount of blood coming from a rat, he might be missing permanently_ , Cari reason, wincing at the cold tone her own thoughts had taken. Before she could figure out whether she should be trying to defuse the situation or offer sympathies, Ron had disappeared back upstairs, retreating to the dorm he shared with the other third-year boys.

"I don't know what he's so upset about," a seventh-year boy said snippily. "He's always complaining about that rat."

"That's his pet, you git!" hissed one of the other seventh-year's tablemates. "Have a little empathy."

"Merlin's balls, it's a rat! Not like they're easy to get attached to." The boy seemed to realize that he had gained the attention of the entire Gryffindor common room and was making the most of it, tone turning superior.

"That's pretty rich coming from you, Drayles," a girl at the table said blandly, lifting an eyebrow. "Who was the one who cried for two weeks when their pet toad died last year?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Drayles muttered, obviously fighting a blush. There was no further conversation from the table, though a healthy laugh went around the common room at the boy's expense.

Cari went up to the dorms shortly after this, and could hear Hermione ranting even through the closed door. Mulling over the idea of adding a silencing charm to their dorm's entrance, Cari pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"-just don't understand why he has to be such a moron about everything! Crooks slipped out this morning and they left their door open. How is any of that my fault?"

"It isn't, of course," Ginny tossed back impatiently. Cari struggled to keep the surprise from her face. She wouldn't have thought Ginny would side with Hermione over her own brother, but she did regardless. The redhead continued her defense of Hermione, "He's just struggling with his own grief about Scabbers's death. Of course, he also feels guilty about all of the times he complained about Scabbers. It has nothing at all to do with you, really."

"She's right," Cari agreed. "He would be just as angry and upset if Scabbers had just died of old age. The way it happened just gives him a target, something solid to focus on being ticked off at: Crookshanks, and by extension, you."

"Thank you both, but that isn't a lot of comfort right now," Hermione groaned, flopping backward to sprawl on her mattress.

* * *

Two days later, all of Hogwarts congregated on the Quidditch pitch to see the highly-anticipated Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match. Ron had cheered up considerably after Harry had let him ride the Firebolt during the final Gryffindor practice before the match. Cari had come along to watch and - to the twins' and Ron's displeasure - had spent the entirety of the practice debating the merits of different broom brands with Madam Hooch. The referee had some interesting points of view, and it was lovely to have someone who knew what she was talking about.

The game was very close. Harry zoomed around on his new Firebolt and the rest of the team seemed to take confidence from his speed. The rest of the team was playing spectacularly, and Harry seemed neck-and-neck with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker. They had both chased the Snitch on several occasions, but finally, Cari had a sense of the game coming to an end as both Seekers darted around in pursuit of the winged gold ball.

The pair was across the field, headed for the Ravenclaw side of the pitch, but Cari could still clearly see the moment Cho turned, face painted with horror as she pointed to the ground. Following the gesture, Cari blanched as she saw a single Dementor waiting on the pitch, hooded face turned up to follow the progress of the Seekers.

Cari was so focused on the Dementors that she didn't even see Harry go for his wand, but he must have, because the next thing she knew, a glowing blue shape was barrelling toward the black-robed creature. Her gaze whipped back to Harry, but the incredibly-defined Patronus was burned into her mind even as she watching Harry capture the Snitch. The resulting explosion of cheers was nearly deafening, and Cari was left nearly alone in the stands as everyone rushed onto the pitch.

She followed behind the crowd, but in a slightly different direction, making her way over to where the Dementor had stood. When she got there, she found only an incredibly-displeased Professor McGonagall standing over - and already lecturing - four Slytherin students, including Malfoy.

After she had laughed over McGonagall's threats joined with the approach of Professor Dumbledore, Cari was abruptly distracted by someone lifting her up with an iron grip around her ribcage, proceeding to spin her in dizzying circles.

"Did you see it, Cari? We won!"

"Oof," Cari huffed, trying to tug the arm away from her torso. "I saw, George, I promise. Put me down!"

After another few spins, George let her feet touch ground and grinned as his twin grabbed her in a tight hug. "We beat Ravenclaw!" Fred cheered, nearly dancing as Cari was forced to move along with him. "We have a shot at the Quidditch Cup!"

Cari pinched the inside of his bicep, gaining her freedom for only a moment before Ginny grabbed her arm. "Cari! Wasn't Harry brilliant!"

Cari's planned complaints about the fondness of physical touch the Weasley family seemed to have faded at the reminder of Harry's Patronus. "Yeah, that was incredible! That was a really defined Patronus, especially considering that he was on a broom."

"Yeah, whatever," Ginny agreed dismissively. "I meant how he caught the Snitch! The new broom helped, but he's just such an amazing Seeker…" she sighed and Cari fought back a laugh - not entirely successfully.

"Wow, Gin. You've really got it bad!"

"I can admire a boy for his Quidditch talents, Licaria," Ginny said defensively.

"Mm-hmm," Cari drawled slowly. "I think you admire Harry for talents other than his Quidditch ones, Ginevra. You've got a little drool…" she indicated the corner of her mouth.

"Eurgh!" Fred effused, pulling a terrible face as George just shook his head.

"Disgusting. Besides, there are far more important things to talk about."

"Like a victory party!"

"Exactly! Be up in the common room in an hour and we'll have a celebration."

"Where exactly else did you expect us to go?" Ginny asked in exasperation. "Come on, Cari, let's leave them to their party planning."

* * *

Far later that night than was wise, Cari collapsed back into her bed, staring up into the darkness. The party had been as fantastic as promised, with snacks, beverages, music, and random chants and cheering all over the common room. All members of the Quidditch team had been toasted multiple times and Oliver was close to being drunk with how many shots of firewhiskey he had been offered. If things were this crazy after the team had just won a single match, Cari was almost frightened to see what would happen if they won the Quidditch Cup.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, Cari was woken by a firm knock on the dormitory door. Before the person could knock again and wake either of the other girls, Cari slid from her bed and rushed over. To her surprise, it was Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Romana," the Transfigurations professor started in a low voice, "I need you to wake your roommates and come down to the common room immediately. We are moving everyone there for the time being. Please hurry, and if you wouldn't mind, check up on the younger girls on your way down the stairs."

"Sure, Professor," Cari said by reflex. McGonagall had already started moving away by the time she finally thought to ask, "What's going on?"

The woman took a deep breath and answered without turning around, "We have reason to believe that Sirius Black is once more inside of Hogwarts."

Within minutes, the entirety of Gryffindor House was in the common room, but it was nothing like the raucous party earlier. In fact, the whole room was eerily silent as students waited to hear any news. Cari, Hermione, and Ginny had managed to get down to the common room in time to secure a sofa and a few armchairs, which were quickly filled by Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Neville. Most of the students began to doze lightly as the night wore on, especially in the time just before the sun began to rise, but Cari couldn't relax enough. Instead, she kept vigilant watch until Professor McGonagall returned around dawn to tell them that Sirius Black had not been found.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know that was kind of a 'meh' ending, but this chapter already ended up being 1,500 words longer than I had plotted it out to be, and I decided to add the other bits and pieces to the beginning of the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all in about two weeks! Leave some feedback if you have any and have a great day!


	77. Hogsmeade

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, materials, characters, plots, settings, etc. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, which I make no money from writing or publishing.

* * *

Hogsmeade

After the clamor surrounding Sirius Black's reappearance had faded, Hogwarts was left with yet another problem: how did he keep getting in? The Dementors were restless, and - though Cari had come to understand that they had no real sense of self, much less personalities - they seemed more determined than ever to ferret out any hint of the escaped convict. It was only with much struggling that Professor Dumbledore was able to force them to stop hovering within school bounds.

Seamus Finnegan had apparently been passing through a quiet hallway when he overheard a conversation between Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. Cari didn't like to put stock in gossip, but Seamus relayed that the Dementors kept trying to push closer to the school for sake of catching Black in the likely case that he appeared a third time. Dumbledore had managed to keep them further away, but confided in McGonagall that he might be unable to prevent it if there was another break-in. The Ministry was already talking about sending additional security to guard the school. Dumbledore was accepting of this, but Professor McGonagall was outright insulted.

" _Hogwarts has the best defenses known to wizard-kind!"_ she had hissed (if Seamus was to be believed). " _We've been fighting off You-Know-Who for years, but they don't trust us to keep out Sirius Bloody Black?"_

A smattering of snorts and chuckles circled the audience at the idea of the proper Professor McGonagall using that kind of language, but everyone sobered quickly at Dumbledore's response:

" _To be fair, Minerva,"_ Dumbledore had said gently, " _This school has been infiltrated by Sirius Black - twice, no less - while never having been invaded by Voldemort. Perhaps the Ministry is correct to offer assistance."_

Seamus claimed that he would have stayed to listen further, but Professor Dumbledore's casual use of Voldemort's name had freaked him out to the point where he needed to walk away. In any case, his retelling of the conversation had caused much debate in the Gryffindor common room.

Some of the students - notably: Percy Weasley, Colin Creevey, and Hermione - thought that some extra help from the Ministry might not be a bad thing while many - most vocally: Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, and Ginny - thought that Hogwarts was capable of fighting off anything that came against it.

"Easy for you to say," Neville Longbottom grumbled. "He doesn't keep breaking into your room!"

"I think I have the most cause to be worried," Ron declared. "He was standing over my bed while I was sleeping!"

His claim was met with an uncomfortable silence while everyone glanced awkwardly over at Harry. For his part, the Boy Who Lived hadn't seemed to take offense at his best friend's words, but everyone knew who was really the one in danger. After some stilted and rather forced conversation, most of the Gryffindors shuffled off in different directions.

With this all in mind, Cari kept an eye out for security upgrades around Hogwarts over the next few days, and was unsurprised when she found them. It seemed that the Headmaster was taking the threat of Sirius Black seriously, and had obviously encouraged the teachers to do their part in defending the school as well.

Professor Sprout had planted several new innocuous-looking patches of flowers and shrubs in strategic places around the grounds, carefully pointing out each one to the students so they would be sure to stay away. She explained to them that most of the plants were meant to snare those with dishonest hearts or intentions of harming innocents, but some of the plants would go so far as to poison anyone who crossed their path. The second type was more common on the very edges of the grounds, in the shadows of the Forbidden Forest and around some of the miry patches near the Black Lake.

Professor Lupin had been given a small pack of Crups that he had trained to recognize Sirius Black's scent. The small, Jack Russell-like animals had caused quite a stir at first, distracting students for days on end as they diligently patrolled the halls. Professor Dumbledore himself had to intervene with that, insisting that the Crups were working animals and that they must not be disturbed, no matter how much they and the students both enjoyed the interactions. Still, it wasn't uncommon to hear a whispered, ' _awww!_ ' as someone stared out a window at a Crup sniffing a path through the grounds. (Cari had asked, and Professor Lupin assured her that the animals had also been warned about the poisonous plants placed by Professor Sprout.)

The person who seemed to take the most joy in preparing for another invasion by Sirius Black was Professor Snape. Lessons had calmed down significantly. It seemed the Potions professor wasn't so interested in teaching as staring down into a simmering cauldron, muttering to himself and - occasionally - smiling unpleasantly. No one was quite sure what he had planned, but they knew that several ideas had been shot down.

"He wanted to poison our room! Can you believe that?" Dean Thomas asked, sounding horrified.

"Poison your room? How so?" Cari asked, a bit skeptically. After all, Seamus Finnegan had a flair for the dramatic, and he and Dean spent a healthy amount of time together.

"He said he had some kind of potion he could dip our bedcurtains in that would instantly paralyze Black if he touched them. Was really insistent about the whole thing, but Dumbledore shut him down. Said it wasn't worth the risk if one of us turned over and brushed a curtain in our sleep."

"That makes sense," Cari agreed. "It would be pretty horrific for you guys, too, having to always be on guard."

Dean groaned. "No, 'horrific' was his next idea. He wanted to lay out a potion that would alert the Headmaster every time someone walked through our door. Coming in, going out, dinner, class, curfew… everything. It would have been like having our every step watched and judged! I would have gone insane!"

Privately, Cari thought that it wasn't a bad plan. A bit of overkill, sure, and it would definitely cut down on the amount of mischief Harry could get up to with his new map, but it would definitely have helped with the problem at hand. Out loud, however, she agreed with Dean and expressed her hope that the professor would come up with something a little less invasive while still being effective. Before she could duck out of the common room, though, Dean leaned toward Cari with a small, wicked grin on his face.

"I'll tell you one thing: there's never a dull year when you share a dorm room with Harry Potter!"

Cari couldn't help but think this sounded fairly accurate. As much as she enjoyed talking with the younger Gryffindor, she had to hurry out of the common room.

She pushed the Fat Lady's portrait aside and held it open - taking a moment to be grateful that Sir Cadogan had been replaced, as he would surely have challenged her to a duel by now - while she looked around. Sure enough, Neville sat in the hallway, back slumped against the wall. He looked exhausted and utterly miserable. Cari couldn't blame him.

Shortly after Sirius Black's second trip into Hogwarts, it had come out that he had gained entry to the Gryffindor Common Room using the passwords Neville had written down. As every Gryffindor and most students from other houses knew, Neville had a notoriously bad memory and had begun to write down the passwords. Professor McGonagall was furious, to say the least, and had banned Neville from being told the password in the first place. Instead, he had to wait outside the common room and hope someone would come along soon to let him in.

Cari thought this was very unfair and had hoped that someone from Neville's family would stick up for him, but she had been told that the younger boy lived only with his grandmother. The woman in question had sent a Howler only days after the incident, so it appeared he would get no help on that front. And so, Cari had decided to take pity on Neville and frequently checked if he needed to be let into the common room. _After all_ , she reasoned, _he's been nothing but nice to me as long as I've been here. I'm glad I get the chance to pay him back._

"Neville, do you want to come inside?" Cari asked softly, seeing that he had nearly dozed off.

"What-? Oh, thanks!" He scrambled to his feet, gathering his belongings so quickly that he dropped most of them, then finally seemed to recognize her. "Thanks again, Cari."

"It's not a problem," she dismissed. He stepped inside and waited, but she waved him along. "I'll be there in little bit. I have some stuff to take care of out here." Neville frowned, but nodded and moved toward the bustling common room.

Cari let the portrait fall closed and waved at the Fat Lady, who beamed back. "Why, if it isn't Licaria! How are you, my dear?"

As an unexpected side effect, all of this popping in and out of the common room had given Cari quite the rapport with the Fat Lady. Mindful of what Sir Smethwyck had told her about the portraits being overlooked, she had listened quite patiently as the Fat Lady had vented her fears about the return to her previous post. Uncomfortable with seeing even a painted person scared, Cari had comforted the Guardian of Gryffindor, and they had been speaking ever since.

"I'm doing well, thank you," she responded in answer to the Lady's question. "Bombed that Charms quiz, though."

"No matter," the Fat Lady said bracingly. "You'll do far better on the next one, I'm sure. Did you ever figure out that problem with your robes?"

Cari groaned, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, it was Fred and George. They thought the Color-Changing Hex would affect Ginny, but after growing up with them, she's warded all of her clothes. I guess it bounced off her stuff and onto mine since my bed is closer than Hermione's."

"Well! Didn't I tell you?" the Lady asked triumphantly.

"You did," Cari readily admitted. "You've known them longer than I have, so I'm not surprised you recognized their work so quickly."

"Licaria?" a voice asked behind her. Cari turned to find Percy Weasley approaching, Head Boy badge shining on his lapel. "What are you doing? It's nearly curfew."

Cari blinked confusedly at him. "We were just chatting, then I'll head inside. You know, your brothers are really-"

"She's a painting," he interrupted, voice incredulous. "That's not a real person and she's got a limited memory. I can't have you making her forget everything she's supposed to remember because you're lonely and want to talk nonsense. Go find my sister, if you must, but the Fat Lady has work to be done."

Cari bit back a gasp at that. If there was one thing the Gryffindor painting hated, it was being referred to as 'the Fat Lady'. For Percy to do so was rude, though Cari had to admit that it was nothing compared to flat-out saying she wasn't a real person.

Turning back to the Lady, Cari watched her positively bristle, skirts fluffing out in an electric rage. "Limited memory? Well, I never! Young man, I remember more than you will ever know! For example, even with all of the drama about Sirius Black this year, I can still remember his school days. I remember where he was and when, who he spent time with, every detail about his days pranking with the Marauders…"

"The who?" Cari asked, intrigued, but the Lady ignored her.

"And do you know what else I have most certainly not forgotten? An impatient, headstrong, _obnoxious_ young man who has recently been made Head Boy and his neglect of his Prefect duties last year - in our school's darkest hour, might I add - all in favor of spending time with a young lady! I never did tell anyone about that, per his request, but perhaps it is time that the entirety of Gryffindor should know. In fact, it may be time for Headmaster Dumbledore himself to learn just what kind of student he has allowed into the school's highest position of student authority!"

Percy blanched and began stuttering wildly before rushing away. Cari grinned up at the Lady, who looked quite self-satisfied.

"He's never been one of my favorites," she confided. "Yes, we portraits do have limited memory capabilities, but so do living humans. I could hang here for a thousand years and only then would the early years begin to fade in my memory."

Cari nodded, floored by the idea of living, watching, and guarding Hogwarts Castle for that long. Before she could properly reconcile the idea in her head, the Lady fixed her with an evil stare. "Now, have things improved in your Herbology lessons?"

* * *

Despite the new advancements in security that the castle had experienced, Hogwarts had soon shaken off the tense feeling, greatly due to one event: the next trip to Hogsmeade. It was the third trip of the school year, so it wasn't _as_ big a deal as the previous ones had been, but it was still a much-appreciated break for the students - at least, the older ones. Ginny was less-than thrilled by the idea of another day without the older students, but she assured them all that she would survive.

Cari, meanwhile, could hardly contain her excitement. After all the drama over the first semester had kept her from the small wizarding village, she had finished her detentions and was sufficiently out of trouble and could finally join the other students.

There was only thing that had managed to put a damper on her feelings: the continuing spat between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hagrid had even seen fit to intervene, inviting the boys to his hut so that he could talk to them, but he told Cari after her Care of Magical Creatures class that they hadn't seemed overly convinced. Of course, this might have been because Hermione had confronted Harry about his plans to go into Hogsmeade, even going so far as to threaten telling Professor McGonagall if he went again. Even Cari, pretending to be studying intently, had winced at that one. Hermione's heart was in the right place, and her concerns were valid, but it was definitely the wrong way to go about talking to the boys.

For obvious reasons, there had been no last-minute breakthroughs.

Neville was also going to be stuck at the castle during the Hogsmeade trip. Whether that was a decision made by his grandmother or McGonagall or both, Cari didn't know. He hadn't shared much other than the basics with her, but it was still enough for Cari to pity the poor guy. It seemed he was always drawing the short straw around Hogwarts.

The Friday evening before the trip, Professor McGonagall had gathered all of the students third-year and up to go over some additional safety requirements. "Due to the dangerous state of the castle at the current time, students will be required to form into groups of three or more to travel to Hogsmeade and back. You need not remain in groups while in the village proper, but any attempts to move between the village and the castle solo or in pairs will result in a punishment."

Her announcement was met with some dark muttering and glares. Since this trip was taking place so close to Valentine's Day, many couples had been planning on a romantic outing. Cari personally didn't see the big deal. They could always split back up when they got to Hogsmeade. Besides, they would be passing through the scrutiny of the Dementors. Who could feel romantic around those creatures?

After Professor McGonagall had dismissed the students for the night, Cari was called over to the corner where the twins were sitting with their roommate, Lee Jordan.

"So, Romana, who are you going to Hogsmeade with?" George asked, lazily kicking a foot onto the low, scuffed-up table in front of him.

Cari shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe I can tag along with Atrox."

She winced immediately, regretting that she hadn't thought about her words before she spoke, but Fred just shrugged carelessly. "You could. Or…"

"You could come with us," Lee offered, grinning broadly. Cari couldn't help but smile back at him. The twins rarely allowed him to join in on their twin-speak - since apparently, it was their _thing_ \- and so it was a big deal to him when it happened.

"I mean, if you guys wouldn't mind, that would work," Cari accepted thankfully.

"Oi!" Ron called as he walked up. "Can I come with you guys to Hogsmeade?"

"Still haven't made up with Granger?" Fred asked rhetorically, lifting a single eyebrow.

George rubbed his jaw theatrically. "Didn't she lift that curse from you after Christmas?"

"No, he went to Pomfrey, remember?"

"Ah, yes. Too scared to ask Granger, wasn't he?"

"What a git. Why should we let you come with us?"

"Please?" Ron asked, obviously less-than-thrilled to have to beg. "'Mione won't let me come with her, Neville can't go, and I don't really know many other people."

"Well, Gred?"

"I just don't know, Forge…"

"Merlin! Come with us, Ron," Lee broke in. Ron smiled at him gratefully and walked away, still flushing to the tips of his ears.

"Why'd you do that, Lee?"

"We could have dragged that out another ten minutes!"

Lee crossed his arms defensively. "I just didn't want to sit here and listen to him beg for another half hour before you two psychopaths finally agreed to let him tag along. You know he'll ditch us as soon as we're in the village anyway."

"You're probably right," George accepted.

"Still would have liked to hear him beg," Fred said grumpily.

Cari laughed. "Okay, I'm going to bed now. Meet you guys tomorrow at breakfast?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the twins agreed loudly, saluting simultaneously.

* * *

The next morning, breakfast was oddly busy. On a normal Saturday, many of the students didn't bother coming, instead using the time to sleep in, hang out with friends, or catch up on homework - the last was a tad more rare, but it did happen. But now, with a trip to Hogsmeade that day, the tables were filled nearly to bursting with older students, all chatting and making plans for the day. It was chaos, and Cari loved it.

"So, Cari, are you ready for this?" Katie asked, sliding into a seat across from Cari.

"I think so," she said, after taking a deep breath. "I've been waiting so long to see Hogsmeade. I don't want to get too excited and then be disappointed when I get there."

"Remember that it's just a small village," Angelina advised wisely, taking a spot next to Katie with Alicia in tow. Cari smiled, warmed by the close friendship between the three girls, but Angelina went on. "There are shops and restaurants, but nothing extravagant."

Alicia nodded, adding, "Just watch yourself and make sure to come to the Three Broomsticks for lunch! There are always a few Hogwarts students hanging around in case you find yourself alone with nothing to do."

"And come back before the sun starts to go down," Katie cut back in. "Filch gets grumpier the later it is, so he'll check more thoroughly if you get back after dark. Besides," she said with a shiver, "You don't want to come across the Dementors at night. That's the only possible way they're more terrifying!"

"Don't worry," Fred soothed, sitting down on Cari's right side. "We'll be with her all day."

"That's supposed to make us all feel better?" Angelina asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"We know you two, remember?" Katie grinned. "Been in classes with you for five years now. She'd be safer out there with Black himself!"

"Ouch," George said, pressing a hand to his chest in a mock-offended manner as he took a seat next to his brother. "I think we're a bit better than a mass-murderer, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, I think that depends on the day," Alicia mused, then shot them a wicked grin.

Fred gave an affronted sniff and began getting to his feet. "Come on, George, Romana. We don't need this kind of abuse."

"Yeah, we all know the Weasleys are very particular about their abuse," Lee joked, finally making an appearance. "Sit down, man. I need some food to help me make it through that walk."

Cari quirked a brow at that, but Katie nodded. "Yeah, it does take a while, doesn't it? We should get going, girls."

"Why not wait a while longer and we can all just go together?" Lee asked. "Surely five minutes won't make that much of a difference, and then we can hang out for a while."

"Sorry," Angelina apologized with a shrug, "We're going to have a bit of a girls' day and one of our group has reason to want to avoid a member of yours. Don't expect we'll see much of you today at all. Thanks for the offer, though."

She stood and the other two rose as well. George gaped. "Who do you have that doesn't like us?"

"Yeah, everyone likes us!" Fred agreed.

Cari snorted into her bowl of cereal, earning a mild glare from both twins, but they were both distracted when Hermione walked up to join the three Chasers on the other side of the table.

"'Mione?" Fred asked, floored.

"Since when don't you like us?"

"I mean, we get on your nerves-"

"-but we didn't think you were actually going to start avoiding us."

"Not that we can blame you."

"Makes sense, really…"

"I'm not avoiding you," Hermione interrupted, looking tired. "I just don't feel like walking around, trying to avoid your little brother."

The confusion on both faces cleared. "Okay, that's right."

"If it makes you feel any better, we would have traded him for you any day."

"Yeah, we would ditch him in a heartbeat if you needed to come with us."

"Thanks, but I think I'm managing," Hermione said, smiling weakly at the other girls.

Alicia grinned, nudging Hermione's shoulder with her own as she said, "Of course you are! It's going to be a really fun day, you'll see."

"Yeah, we've got plans-" Katie's voice faded away as the girls made their way out of the Great Hall and toward the castle doors.

Cari shifted a little, trying not to feel uncomfortable at the idea of being thrown in with the guys rather than invited along with the girls and failing. "So," she said in an attempt to distract herself, "Are we leaving soon, or trying to give them a head start?"

Fred shrugged. "We could leave right now, but we have to wait for that thick-headed little brother of ours."

"Seriously," George nodded. "With everything she's done for those two, they need to suck it up and end this fight."

Cari couldn't help but agree.

It was nearly ten minutes later when Ron finally stumbled into the Great Hall, yawning and raking a hand through his messy hair. He moved to sit down, but Fred and George swooped over, grabbing his arms and tugging him immediately back to his feet.

"What are you guys doing? I'm starving?" Ron complained loudly.

"Too bad," George said without an ounce of pity in his voice. "Should've gotten down here earlier."

"It's almost ten! We're losing time waiting for you to wake up." Fred shook his head despairingly.

Without another word, they began dragging him out the door. Exchanging amused glances, Cari and Lee trailed behind. The walk was indeed a long one, but it was made longer by the crowd of students afraid to pass through the front gates. Cari didn't understand what was going on until they got a little closer and she felt the undeniable presence of Dementors.

When their group's turn finally came, Fred and George dropped back to flank her, leaving Lee to accompany Ron ahead of them. Their bulky height and larger-than-life personalities helped, but even those comforts faded as they got closer to the barricade. Finally, when things seemed to be at their worst, Cari put a hand inside her robes, touched the edge of her wand, and whispered, " _Expecto Patronum_." Without the proper wand movements, there was no hope of the charm working, but the air around Cari seemed to possess slightly less weight, allowing the twins and herself to pass through more easily.

She almost expected the twins to question her about what had happened, but neither said anything. Cari couldn't help but feel grateful; she wasn't really in the mood for explanations. As soon as they passed over the outer edge of Hogsmeade, Ron broke away from them. "Okay, guys, I'll see you later!" he called as he disappeared.

"Git," Fred breathed.

"So, where to first?" George asked, looking around expectantly.

Lee looked away sheepishly. "I might have to catch up with you all in a bit. I've got a date."

"What?" George nearly shouted. "You're ditching us, too?"

"I can't believe it's come to this," Fred said sadly, shaking his head. "Choosing a bird over us, your closest friends…"

"Two days ago, you tried to cast a shrinking charm on my head!" Lee accused, outraged.

"Yeah, but we didn't," Fred defended.

"Because we're _friends_ ," George emphasized.

"Whatever," Lee said dismissively, obviously fighting a grin. "I'll be back in an hour, yeah?"

"An _hour_?" George asked, horrified.

"You can't expect to have a proper date in an hour!" Fred cried, sounding frustrated. "Take your time, treat the girl nice, pay for everything…"

"Straighten your collar, fix your hair, and you've got jam on your chin," George informed, reaching for Lee's face.

Lee promptly batted his hand away, swiped at his chin, and backed away, glaring. "Back off, would you two? You're worse than my mum! Bye."

Fred and George exchanged evil glances, grinning all the while. They turned back toward Lee, calling, "Bye, darling!"

"Be safe, sweetie!"

"We love you!"

Lee didn't answer, didn't even turn around, but Cari watched his shoulders inch closer to his ears as he bustled away briskly. When he had disappeared around a corner, George turned to Fred, shrugging. "Zonko's?"

"Zonko's!" Fred agreed.

The two rushed off eagerly, forcing Cari to catch glimpses of Hogsmeade as she trailed after them. It was wonderful! The whole village was made of small buildings that still managed to tower overhead, pointed roofs and windows pushing up out of the thick layer of snow while allowing thick, dangerous-looking icicles to form on their undersides. And, as it turns out, the architecture was the least interesting part about Hogsmeade!

Some students had built a snowman that was likely twelve feet tall and had attached a poor third-year's Hufflepuff scarf to its neck. The younger student was desperately trying to summon the scarf down, but with little luck - it didn't help that the snowman kept snatching it back and winding the fabric around his icy neck.

Shops lined the cobblestone street, window displays showcasing wonderful magic to display their wares. There was a bookstore Cari practically itched to dive into, a dress shop filled with giggling Hogwarts students, and a greenhouse-type nursery with plants tapping at the windows to get shoppers' attention.

Amid all the chaos - partially caused by the large number of students packed into the chilly, snow-covered village - there were still more things to look at. Some enterprising businesses (mostly restaurants) had realized that they were located too far away from the main strip of the village to benefit from the students' patronage, and had sent out witches and wizards with carts to sell snacks and beverages on the street.

Even as mindful as Cari was of her ever-dwindling savings, she made a quick stop at a cart manned by a bored-looking wizard and bought an exploding lemonade. The tart sweetness counteracted the slight burn and she took a moment to savor the beverage before hurriedly catching up with the twins.

They had just walked into a store marked as Zonko's. Cari knew from past conversations that this was their haven, their absolute favorite place in all of Hogsmeade. She could see why. Everywhere she looked, there were towering shelves, filled almost to bursting with pranks of all kinds. There were some students inside, but it wasn't nearly as packed as the street, and everyone seemed to defer to Fred and George, who the staff greeted by name.

The twins walked straight past the pre-made pranks, the nose-biting teacups, the frog-spawn soap, and all of the usual tricks. Instead, they moved directly toward a large wall marked ' _Miscellaneous_ ' that stretched the length of the store.

Cari walked up behind them, sipping her lemonade and wondering if she was intruding on some kind of tradition, but they turned to her soon enough.

"Welcome to the best part of Zonko's!" they said simultaneously, sweeping their arms up to encompass the wall.

After another drink of lemonade, Cari crossed her arms. "Did you practice that?"

"Don't change the subject," George chided, waving a finger in her face.

"This is the area for the true pranksters," Fred started grandly. "Everyone knows the basics of pranking - your dungbombs, sugar quills, what have you…"

"But," George took up, "Only the best can take loose elements such as these…"

"And combine them into something new and unexpected," Fred finished.

Cari looked at the wall, eyes picking out items from here or there - gunpowder, flavored inks, false blood - with or without coagulation, time lapse explosives, itching cream, temperature changing pods, ever-slowing clocks… the possibilities were endless.

"Well, it looks like you have plenty to work with," Cari said. "What kind of stuff do you usually do?"

"'Usually'?" George asked, horror in his voice. "A prankster who does 'usually' is one who is predictable. The element of surprise is a prankster's best friend."

"Excuse me," Cari apologized sarcastically. "I meant, what do you two do with this stuff?"

"Good question," Fred said. "We do different things every time to keep that element of surprise that my partner over there was talking about."

His wording sparked an idea, but Cari wanted to consider it for a while before speaking out loud. Instead, she held up her now-empty cup and said, "I'm going to go find somewhere to throw this away."

The twins both laughed at her. "Are you really going to find a bin to chuck it in rather than banish it?"

"The sign on the door says that they don't want people doing magic in here."

"She obeys signs, Gred."

"So cute, Forge."

"Shut up," Cari said, softening the harsh words with a smile. "I'll be right back."

By the time she found a trash can, she had been forced to wander back onto the main street and the twins found her before she could go back inside. Each carried a bulging bag with the Zonko's label emblazoned on the side.

"Come on, Romana, let's find some food," Fred suggested.

"Three Broomsticks?" George asked.

"Where else?"

The Three Broomsticks was a large building and probably would have felt airy and roomy if not for the hundred or so Hogwarts students crammed inside. As it was, they fought for a table, finding one only when the twins pretended to mutter together angrily and dig through their bags. Amazingly, a table became available immediately.

George disappeared to the bar while Fred and Cari looked around for anyone they might recognize. Cari spotted the group of Gryffindor girls, but they just waved from across the crowded room and Cari waved back, noting with pleasure that Hermione seemed to be having a good time.

George came back with three mugs full of a golden liquid. Cari quirked a brow, but he grinned widely as he sat the mugs on the table. "The finest butterbeer for the table! Compliments of our traitorous friend, Lee Jordan."

"How is his date going?" Fred asked, an amused glint in his eyes.

" _Very_ well," George replied, waggling his eyebrows. "She liked the advice we gave him."

"Of course she did," Fred said off-handedly. "We're gentlemen."

Cari gathered her courage. "So," she started, sitting forward.

George turned to her immediately, face shocked. "Did you need advice on how to treat a lady on a date, Romana?"

"Or advice on how you should be treated?" Fred continued.

"Because either way…" George trailed.

"We have your back," they finished together.

"And, of course, we're always available to trounce a bloke who doesn't treat you the way you deserve," Fred offered.

"Just point him out to us and he'll be buying stock in Skele-Grow," George promised.

Cari tried and failed to fight back a laugh. "Good to know. What I was going to say was that you guys had so many ideas at Zonko's… Have you ever thought about finding a way to share your pranking ideas with other students? Maybe ones at other schools?"

"Why, Romana," George said, acting shocked.

"Are you suggesting that we teach others how to break the rules?" Fred gaped.

Cari shrugged. "Kind of. What I mean is, your pranks are hilarious and creative, but they don't actually hurt anyone. They're frustrating or embarrassing, but they're safe - for the most part. It would be interesting to see you put those ideas to work."

"Way ahead of you, Romana," Fred replied simply.

"Thanks for the idea, though. Nice of you to think of us," George said in a kind voice.

They both went back to their butterbeer, surveying the room while Cari gaped at them. When she finally found her voice, it was to say, "You've already got some kind of a plan? What is it?"

The twins glanced at each other and George muttered conspiratorially, "Not so loud, yeah? There are a lot of people who want this information."

"Really?" Cari asked, hardly breathing.

"Nah," Fred chuckled, exchanging another look with his brother. "No one cares."

"No one even knows," George admitted.

"Not that there's much to know."

"Yeah, we've just been keeping track of the things we make, how we test them, and details about whether or not they worked."

"That's a great start!" Cari effused, knowing she was being too excited and not able to stop herself.

"Okay, Romana," Fred grinned.

George matched the expression. "Whatever you say."

But despite their carefree words, Cari noted they both wore proud little smiles as they resumed watching the room.

Soon afterward, they met up with Ron, then Lee and his date and began walking back to Hogwarts. The latter two chatted cheerfully with each other the entire way back, but no one was more distracted than Ron, who walked with a bounce in his step and kept beaming at random. The Dementor checks were barely enough to sober him up, but Filch's extra-thorough check of the twins' shopping bags nearly knocked his mood closer to neutrality.

They all retreated to the Gryffindor common room, lounging comfortably and swapping stories about the day, but a younger student, Colin Creevey, came in and rushed over to Ron. He said a lot in a very low and rushed tone, but Cari managed to get the picture: Harry had been caught by Professor Snape, who seemed to know he had been in Hogsmeade.

Ron leapt from his armchair and rushed away. "Where are you going, mate?" Lee called, having missed the whole thing.

"I have to get to Harry!" Ron called over his shoulder as he barreled out through the portrait hole.

"Where is Harry?" Lee asked, befuddled.

Cari glanced at Fred and George, who seemed to be considering how much to tell their roommate, but in the end, they just laughed and changed the subject.

* * *

Author's Note \- I am terribly, terribly sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I hope the insane length in some way makes up for it. I actually had this chapter finished and ready to go out on time, but it turns out that I had forgotten Hogsmeade visits are a thing that exist. In order to continue the story in the way I had plotted it out, I needed to include the Hogsmeade visit in this one rather than the next and I know I'm boring you, aren't I? Suffice it to say that I've found the Hogsmeade at Universal Studios impactful enough to want to represent it correctly, which took a bit longer than I had expected. Now, reviews!

ghostcrab311: I am so happy that you said that! I've been trying to show Cari gradually regaining her sense of self, but doing anything gradually is decidedly _not_ my forte. I'm glad it's coming through anyway! And as for the rest of your review, let's just say that you and I share a very similar mindset. :)

Ella: Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that you're liking the story so far!

HarryPotterGeek: Without coming off as some kind of weirdo, I feel we're never really done with the people we know. There's always a chance that they'll pop back up - especially when you don't expect it! In an effort to sound a little less like a poor man's Dumbledore, I would like to remind you that this exchange program is not a permanent thing. The Echowick students are only in Hogwarts for one year, hence why there are no first- or seventh-year students in the program. Excellent question, though!

All right, in an effort to keep this from becoming the absolute longest chapter I've ever posted rather than the second-longest, I think that will have to do! It was lovely to see you guys, I'm sorry about the wait, and I thank you for your patience. I regret that it will likely be another two weeks until there's an update, but I have a reason for it, I swear! Thanks for reading, review if you feel like it, and have an absolutely lovely day!


	78. Birthdays

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plot, settings, etc. These are the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, from which I make no money. At all. Not even a little.

* * *

Birthdays

The rest of February passed by in a strange mix of anticipation and worry. Apparently, after the Hogsmeade trip, Harry had been caught by Professor Snape, and the map had subsequently been confiscated by Professor Lupin. Cari had a hard time believing that the DADA professor would stay firm in his decision not to return the map, but he had so far. Fred and George were quite miffed that their present to Harry had already been taken away from him, and took every opportunity - both organic and manufactured - to use the word 'map' or 'marauders' in the Defense class. Every time, Professor Lupin would visibly start and glance over at them before rolling his eyes, sighing, or similarly showing his exasperation with their constant antics.

Unfortunately, there was even more bad news on the horizon, dropped after that same Hogsmeade trip: Buckbeak had been sentenced to execution, pending the results of an appeal Hagrid was planning to make. Harry, Hermione, and even Ron had all been spending huge amounts of time in the library, working on a defense for the Hippogriff. From what Hermione had been saying, the case was coming together quite nicely, but the third-year witch was still concerned.

"After all," she had said, "Our last defense was fairly solid, but it still failed. I don't know if Hagrid got nervous and presented it in a less-effective way, or if Lucius Malfoy just has too much pull with the Ministry."

"Well, don't work too hard," Cari warned. Her heart hurt for Buckbeak and especially Hagrid, but Hermione was starting to look dangerously tired and showed constant signs of stress. Still, Hermione looked like she was going to argue, so Cari cut her off at the start. "You can't take care of anyone else if you aren't taking care of yourself. Besides, who else is going to slap Malfoy across the face if you're too busy with other things?"

Hermione blushed darkly. "It wasn't my best moment… Had a lot going on… Lots of stress… Really shouldn't have lost control…"

Cari waved her off. "It was lucky it happened after we got back from Hogsmeade. How much Honeydukes candy did you get?"

"A lot," Hermione admitted, blushing still more fiercely. "Plus that box of chocolates from the twins and Lee."

"See? We need you to stay in commission so you can snap when it's most appropriate. Okay?"

Hermione sighed and shot her a look, but finally mumbled out a, "Fine. I will do my best."

Fortunately, the trend of ever-darkening moods was broken on the first day of March. It was Ron's fourteenth birthday, and the twins were obviously out to celebrate. Cari stumbled downstairs that Monday morning, ready to go grab breakfast and head to classes, but stopped short when she caught sight of the common room. Every wall, piece of furniture, and even the ceiling had been papered with pictures of Ron. Some were nice, showing him smiling, waving, or something similar, but they were definitely in the minority. Most of the pictures were of him shrugging, blushing, looking away… a couple were even embarrassing baby photos! Cari winced in sympathy awkwardness and exited through the (picture-covered) portrait.

Breakfast was rather quiet, other than the cloud above the Great Hall that drifted into a shape suspiciously similar to Ron's face. Nothing notable happened during the morning classes either, but by contrast, classes after lunch were constantly disrupted. Peeves had been floating throughout the castle, singing a nonsense little song about Ron and the joys of being fourteen - in all of their graphic, disgusting glory. After a particularly cringe-worthy tune about wet dreams that was sang in Cari's Potions class, the entire castle seemed to have had enough.

"The young Weasley boy isn't even in this class!" Professor Snape snapped. "Go harass another classroom, you disgusting poltergeist."

Peeves stuck out his tongue and pulled his pointed ears away from his head, but when Snape drew his wand threateningly, the poltergeist zoomed away, cackling all the while. The willingness of the professors to banish him from their classrooms seemed to be sufficient deterrent, as no one saw Peeves for the rest of the day.

The fun wasn't over yet, though. Large, bedsheet-sized portraits of Ron had been attached to many of the moving staircases, each caricature emphasizing a different, unflattering feature. The movement of the staircases made it even more difficult for the images to be taken down, an effort which included most of the professors as well as Ron himself, though Professor Dumbledore was notably absent.

Dinner was a slightly awkward affair. Fred and George had been subtle enough that there were no solid clues linking them to the events of the day and so they hadn't gotten in trouble. Regardless, most of the student body and all of the professors glared at them throughout the meal even as the pair in question beamed around the room in a show of naturally high spirits. They whispered to each other and would occasionally turn anticipatory, so Cari started to dread what might come next.

At the very end of the dinner hour, Professor Dumbledore ambled down the aisle between tables, stopping between George and Fred. "A well-played joke is a wonderful thing, boys." The twins grinned even more broadly as they agreed. Still more quietly, the Headmaster added, "But a joke can be overplayed, can it not?"

Suddenly serious, Fred nodded. "Right you are, Professor."

Beside him, George agreed. "Consider everything done."

"Other than the pictures in the common room, of course."

"Yeah, they won't fade until midnight."

Professor Dumbledore nodded serenely. "Very good, boys. I thank you for a highly entertaining day."

"Anytime, Professor!" the two said in unison, rising from the table and leaving the Great Hall, presumably to go remove all traces of their day of pranking.

"I can't believe it," Ron grumbled. "All of that, everything they put me through, and they didn't even get into trouble? What a terrible day."

"Or maybe it wasn't…" Hermione drew out thoughtfully. At Ron's questioning glare, she shrugged. "I mean, they didn't do anything to actually hurt you, just embarrass you. You have to admit that, by the twins' standards, it was fairly tame."

"Oh, just wait," Katie Bell interjected darkly. "If there's one thing the twins use Ron's birthday for, it's practice."

"Practice?" Cari asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Katie shrugged. "They test the waters with Ron's birthday, see how far they can push the staff before they get into big trouble. Last year, they got a couple of detentions for writing 'Happy Birthday, Ronald' on the wall in red paint."

"That really was in poor taste," Hermione added.

Cari's concern was mostly for Ginny. The normally-pale redhead had gone completely white and, after hearing all of the stories from the previous year, she could see why. "Speaking of poor taste…" Cari said sharply, flicking her gaze over to the second-year.

Katie looked instantly remorseful, but pressed on. "Anyway, Fred and George saw that the mood of the school was too tense and they didn't do anything _too_ bad for their birthday. But this year, with what just happened?" She shuddered. "Get ready, because there's going to be a storm coming in one month. It's going to be legendary."

"One month…" Cari drew out, doing the mental math. "No. You can't actually be telling me that the twins' birthday is on April Fool's Day!"

Seeming to take heart from the subject change, Ginny nodded. "Yes, it really is. We can't decide if it just worked out perfectly or if they got ideas from the holiday and decided to become what they are today."

That started an interesting conversation about nature vs nurture in which everyone brought up some very interesting points, but as usual, no conclusion was actually reached.

For the next few weeks, classes grew very intense. There were only a few short months until exams, and the professors were determined that all of the students spend as much time as possible studying and doing coursework to 'familiarize themselves with the material'. With all of the work being assigned, Cari had very little free time, but what she did have, she used to keep an eye on the twins. They seemed to be acting fairly normal, but she wasn't with them all of the time. Finally, toward the end of March, she decided to confront them outright.

"So," she started, sidling up during one of their regular outings to try feeding the giant squid, "What do you guys have planned for your birthday?"

"Oh, you know…" Fred trailed, completely engrossed in dangling today's choice, a large bunch of grapes, over the water. "Just your average, quiet birthday."

"I don't believe that for a minute," Cari rejected, crossing her arms firmly.

George gaped at her in playful offense, having already given up on his offering of a buttered dinner roll. "It is a very important year, Romana! We are about to take our OWLs, you know."

"Yeah, and I'm willing to bet you haven't spent more than a collective hour studying so far."

"Exactly," Fred agreed. "That's why we need to start revising soon. We'll probably spend most of the day in the library."

"Come on!" she said exasperatedly. "I know you guys have something planned. What is it?"

"I don't know, Romana," George said, doubt plain in his voice.

"Yeah, you're not the most open-minded when it comes to pranks," Fred agreed, tossing the grapes into the water in defeat. They all ignored the splash as the squid flicked the grapes from the surface of the water with one of his tentacles.

Cari stared at the twins with her best pleading stare. "Please?" she asked softly, trying to keep her voice fragile and soft.

They stared back at her for a long moment before glancing at each other and giving in.

"Fine," George said shortly, drawing a tube from his robes. "Do you know what this is?"

Cari leaned in, examining it closely. "It's a tube of… sludge." She pulled back to study each of them. "Is that the prank? Tell me that's not going in everyone's food."

"Merlin!" Fred exclaimed, looking elated.

George looked just as excited as his brother. "Brilliant idea, and we're making a note of it, but no. This is just for Fred and I."

Glancing between the two with a single eyebrow raised, Cari said, "That still doesn't tell me what it is, guys."

The twins took a breath and said together, "Polyjuice potion!"

Slowly, Cari asked, "The one that lets you look like someone else? Isn't that really hard to make?"

Fred nodded, "Yeah, and the shelf life is abysmal-"

"-but it's worth it," George finished. "Can you imagine-"

"-everyone's faces when they see us?" Fred followed.

The twins seemed more apt to do the 'finishing each other's sentences' thing when they were really excited about something, but Cari still wasn't getting the entire story. "I feel like I'm missing something. Who are you going to turn into?"

In another simultaneous reveal, they said, "Sirius Black, of course!"

"You have Sirius Black's hair?" Cari asked. It was an inane question, not even close to being the main issue, but it was all her brain had to offer at the moment.

"Course not," George said.

"But we did pull two hairs off of a bloke in Hogsmeade who looked similar enough," Fred added.

"Not like they'll see us up close anyway. It's mostly going to be glimpses of him, around corners and down hallways and the like. Just enough to start a panic," George explained happily.

"And with the two of us on opposite sides of the castle, none of the stories will match up at all! It's going to be sixty minutes of total chaos," Fred sighed.

In a voice that sounded unnervingly like a mixture of Professor McGonagall and Headmistress Fleet, Cari snapped, "You absolutely _cannot_ do that!"

In the space of a moment, the mirth had vanished completely from the twins' faces, leaving behind a mixture of disappointment and resignation. It hurt Cari a bit to see, but this was one plan she couldn't simply go along with. "Told you she wouldn't understand," George muttered to a nodding Fred.

"Understand? _Understand?_ " Cari questioned, trying to keep herself from shouting. "Oh, I understand plenty. I understand that you want to cause a school-wide search and disrupt everything! I understand you want to scare the younger students and make them wonder if Hogwarts is really a school they want to attend! I understand you want Hogwarts to be under Ministry scrutiny for the rest of the year and likely longer! What I _don't_ understand is how you can do this to Harry."

"Harry?" Fred asked. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"Yeah, more likely than not, he'll think it's funny," George added.

"Really?" Cari's voice was abruptly flat, making it clear that the question was one she would answer herself. "Harry would laugh at the idea of Sirius Black - the man who betrayed his parents, let them die, and has been endangering his life and the lives of his classmates all year - coming into the castle and being on the loose. Either you have a very mistaken idea of Harry or I do. Because the Harry I know, the one who has faced down Voldemort twice in two and a half years to keep other people safe, wouldn't laugh at that. I don't think he would find it funny at all."

With that, Cari was ready to turn on her heel and stalk away, but Fred's grudging question stopped her. "Let's say you make a good point. What would you have us do, cancel the prank and do nothing for our birthday this year?"

"For April Fool's Day," George added, looking horrified. "The most sacred day of the year?"

Cari shook her head, flashing her most mischievous grin. "Of course not. You have the right idea, just with the wrong person as a focus. Give me a few days and I'll have what you need to make your prank even better."

* * *

It was mid-afternoon, just after classes had ended on a windy April 1st when Cari first started hearing the whispers from passing students:

"Have you seen Professor Snape today?"

"No, but isn't he in the dungeons?"

"I thought he would be, but I saw him up on the third floor."

"Then why were you asking if I've seen him?"

"Well, he was acting very oddly. I wonder if he's okay?"

"What do you mean?"

The conversation faded before Cari heard the answer, but she could imagine. George had some interesting ideas on how he was going to portray Snape. A group was approaching from the other direction.

"Did we actually just see that?"

"I have no idea. I didn't think Snape even knew how to fly."

"Well, he _was_ shrieking quite a bit... But why would he have been out there in the first place if he was so scared?"

"It was strange, I grant you, but who knows why he does anything?"

Cari grinned to herself. Fred had mentioned something about flying as Snape and the possibility of using his nose as a rudder. As she walked out near the Great Hall, Professor Snape billowed up from the dungeons, looking very displeased - even more so than normal.

"Miss Romana," he drawled, spacing the words even further than he usually did. "Have you seen or heard anything… odd this afternoon?"

Feeling a bit of guilt for causing this prank, Cari nevertheless protected the twins, comforting herself that this was better than their original plan. "Nothing overly strange, Professor. I just came from the library, though, and it was fairly empty on such a nice day."

"Indeed," he answered shortly, turning to sweep down a hallway at an impressive pace.

Cari stood watching for a long moment, but hurriedly had to duck as Professor Snape zoomed through the doors of the Entrance Hall on a broom, bumping against several walls and the ceiling on his way into the Great Hall.

Another Professor Snape burst through a tapestry nearby, throwing his arms into the air as he shouted, "I am going to put an end to this foolishness immediately!"

He stormed into the Great Hall as well, followed by a rather large collection of chuckling students. Cari gamely joined in. This had been her idea, after all, and she wanted to see it through. Besides, she had a hunch that both Snapes in the Great Hall were the twins, but she didn't know for sure, and the possibilities were fascinating.

As she slipped into the hall they used as a cafeteria, Cari couldn't help but laugh at the sight in front of her: two mirror-image Professor Snapes stood in the middle of the central aisle, waving their robed arms about and arguing loudly about who the real Professor Snape was.

" _I_ am Severus Snape!" the one on the right insisted. "Just watch this!" He sneered impressively, sending a wave of giggles through the crowd.

"No, _I_ am the true Severus Snape!" the left figure argued, screwing up his face to say, "There is only _Potter_ to blame for the trouble this school is experiencing." Cari snorted. The way the twin in question had spat out Harry's name was a spot-on imitation of the Potions professor.

The entire room grew silent as Professor Dumbledore wandered in, sending a pleasant nod toward the bickering professors. "Ah, hello Severus. Severus. Might I ask what is going on?"

"We are attempting to ascertain which is the true Severus Snape," the left Snape explained, looking down his nose as though the situation were beneath him.

"That is what _he_ is doing," the right Snape corrected. " _I_ am attempting to discover which one of the _trouble-makers_ at this school would dare attempt to take on my appearance."

Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly, tilting his head to study them over his half-moon glasses. "Now, boys… Surely you want to put aside this foolishness before the man in question makes his own appearance?"

Before either Snape could answer, another version came skidding to the doors, breathing heavily and pushing dark hair from his face. "What- in the name- of _Merlin_ \- is happening- here?" The gathered students broke into applause at the sight of yet another Snape making an appearance, but the professor only shot an evil glare around the room.

Sending an apologetic shrug toward the Polyjuiced twins, Dumbledore stepped toward the real Professor Snape. "Severus, I believe there is simply a joke being played. Children having fun, you know."

" _Fun_ ," Professor Snape hissed out, sounding disgusted. "In this climate, taking on the identity of another is not a simple joke, it is a security threat. What if either of these imposters is Sirius Black? I propose we call in the Dementors and allow them to decide if they are innocent students."

It wasn't often that Cari saw Professor Dumbledore lost his kind, grandfatherly persona, but when he did, it sent a chill through her entire being. "Severus," he said warningly. "You go too far. You are no fool, and I would wager you know exactly who these two are. Do not allow your anger to force you to say things better left unsaid."

"Weasleys…" Professor Snape gritted out. "Will you at least allow them to be punished fittingly this time?"

"Naturally, and I will even do so myself." Professor Dumbledore turned to the two Snapes, the hair of which was starting to look noticeably reddish. "Please come with me, boys. We will continue this conversation in my office."

Both figures saluted, bowed to the applauding crowd, and followed the headmaster from the Great Hall. Left with only a glaring Professor Snape for company, the gathered students began to disperse.

When Fred and George, restored to their normal selves, caught up with Cari later on, they both thanked her profusely. "He said he didn't know anything for sure-"

"-and he didn't want to-"

"-but Dumbledore told us that, if we had posed as someone dangerous-"

"-like Sirius Black-"

"-we could have been expelled completely."

"Probably would have been, to be honest."

"So thank you," they finished together.

"You're welcome," Cari answered easily. "And thank you for not being too upset about the change in plans."

"It was a good change," George admitted with a shrug.

"Yeah, we might have to make you one of us for real," Fred added with a wink.

Cari shook her head - hiding a smile - and walked away.

True to their word, the twins made an effort to include her more often over the following weeks. Of course, this stressed Hermione to no end, as it meant they weren't studying, but Cari appreciated the additional support, especially as most of her friends were getting bogged down in their own studying.

As time went on, Fred and George were unable to spend a lot of time with Cari simply because the final Quidditch match of the season was coming quickly. Oliver Wood, especially, was panicking about this fact and had insisted that the entire Quidditch team spend every waking moment in practice. If they _happened_ to have a free moment, they were to spend it guarding Harry, who was the target of bullying from their Slytherin competitors - even more so than the rest of the team.

Finally, it was the night before the match. Hermione had set aside her work, claiming it was too tense in the common room to allow for study. Cari had to agree. It didn't help that Fred and George were dealing with their own nerves by being outright obnoxious, and the room was wracked by constant explosions. Cari couldn't especially blame them, she supposed. They had started their detentions for the Snape prank and, with nearly-constant evening Quidditch practices, they had been forced to attend during lunch or even before classes started for the day. Still, it wore thin very quickly, and Cari went to bed early that night.

* * *

Author's Note \- Before anyone asks: yes, I am going with the timeline of the books rather than the movies where the Great Malfoy Slap Incident is concerned. Therefore, yes, the slap occurs after the February Hogsmeade visit rather than at the very end of the year. Thank you.

As usual, this chapter is coming to you later than expected. However, I actually have an excuse this time! My internet has been out since Saturday night, and it was only turned back on roughly an hour ago. I haven't just been sitting around complaining about not having access to Facebook, though! I made a last-minute change to this story that is going to probably kill me, but will work out better for you guys. I originally planned on finishing up Cari's exchange year in Chapter 80, hence why the chapters have been so much longer than usual lately. BUT, I just did the math a few days ago, and if I put in everything I plan to include, both Chapters 79 and 80 would be roughly 10,000 words long. A little much. Instead, I'm adding another five chapters to put the end of the year at Chapter 85, that way I can write in all the detail I want. Since I also intend to finish Cari's school year before the end of our calendar year, this means I have quite a bit of work to do. And, much as I hate talking about my real-life job on here, I will be fairly busy over the next few weeks, as is to be expected in any customer service-based industry. I am promising you guys that I will do my best.

Anyway, with that boring insight into my world of planning and obsession with intervals of five, I will turn to my review!

ghostcrab311: I agree completely about Neville's poor treatment! He's treated like the less-than Gryffindor, and it's always driven me crazy. I'm glad you see it as a reflection of Cari's character. :) Thank you so much for the review!

All right, everyone, that should be it for now. Let me know what you thought! I will get the next chapter out as soon as possible. As it is already half-written (since I didn't decide on splitting it until about two hours ago), it should be out fairly quickly. I hope you have a wonderful day, a safe weekend, and I'll see you soon!


	79. April And May

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. All of these belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make no money.

* * *

April And May

"Did you see Wood block that pass?"

"Yeah, how about when Weasley chucked his bat at Flint's face?"

"But when Potter turned himself into a human Bludger to chase away those Slytherins-!"

Cari grinned from her armchair. The excitement of the Gryffindors was incredible, and it showed. She was sure that this party would go down in Gryffindor history. Oliver was the most thrilled person alive and seemed ready to bounce from his chair in absolute excitement at all times. In fact, the Gryffindor Captain barely seemed able to sit down at all, constantly standing to make speeches, congratulate his teammates, mention a bit of strategy he had seen, or otherwise be out and about. But where anyone else would have soon found themselves without a place to sit, Oliver always came back to an open seat, even if someone else had to move for it to be possible.

Constant cheers echoed around the common room, started by different students every time. The Quidditch team found themselves constantly surrounded by people, and if their drink happened to run low, it was immediately replaced, often by more than one person. The night had started with Butterbeer, only a few of the seventh-year students sipping glasses of firewhiskey, but as the night wore on, more drinks were spiked than left alone, and the party raged even more intensely. The music was turned to deafening levels, handfuls of snacks or chocolates were constantly thrown across the room, and Fred and George were convinced to set off some of their Long-Lasting Fireworks, giving the room a multi-colored appearance that simply added to the chaos.

Overall, the party was lovely, but Cari eventually found herself needing a bit of quiet. And so, when no one was looking, she slipped out through the portrait hole, but the Fat Lady was as trashed as half of the older Gryffindor students, so Cari decided to take a walk.

To her surprise, she was far from alone. A small shape made her jump, but she relaxed again as she realized it was simply Crookshanks. The cat notoriously hated everyone who wasn't Hermione, but he had grown to tolerate Cari. "Hello, Crooks," she cooed, crouched to hold out a hand in the cat's direction. She didn't dare move too close to his face, knowing from past experience how sharp his claws were, but he came to her willingly enough.

"Wow, you're being oddly friendly," Cari said, careful to keep her voice as soothing as possible. She tried to scratch his shoulder, but he imperiously directed her to a spot under his chin instead, leaning into the touch for a moment before purring loudly.

The peaceful spell of the relaxing moment was broken the instant Cari caught sight of another shape from the corner of her eye. She nearly panicked, rising abruptly to her feet - and startling a now-hissing Crookshanks - but it was only the same large, black dog she had seen on Halloween. "Dog!" she said, rolling her eyes at the inanity of her own response to the surprise. "You two are friends?" The question was directed at the two animals, though she wasn't crazy enough to expect an answer.

Crookshanks began haughtily grooming himself while the dog grinned up at her, tongue lolling slightly from his mouth. "Good to see you, pretty boy," Cari greeted, patting the dog's head. He bounded up at her, setting paws on her shoulders. Cari was a little taken aback, but did her best to react normally, not wanting to scare the dog. "Yeah, you're a big guy, aren't you? Almost as tall as I am like this." He leaned forward to set his cold nose against the pawprint necklace hanging at her sternum. He grinned at her again, this time from much closer. Cari smiled back. "Yeah, it looks like one of your pawprints, doesn't it?"

She lowered him back to the ground, lost in thoughts of whether dogs are capable of recognizing their own pawprints versus those of other dogs, but broke out of them enough to talk to the dog again. "Are you hungry, boy? We can go get you something from the kitchens." The dog paced back a little toward the common room, whining, but Cari shook her head. "You don't want anything they've got in there, trust me. Chocolate isn't something dogs should eat, and besides, someone might see you and freak out."

The dog, seeming almost to understand what she was saying, trotted back in her direction willingly enough, though Cari noticed he shot more than one sharp glance behind them as they walked off toward the kitchens. To her shock, Crookshanks accompanied them as well. She knew he wasn't super fond of her, but he did indeed seem to be friendly with the large black dog - at least, far more friendly than she had seen him with any animal or human other than Hermione herself.

With this odd group, Cari made her way down to the kitchens. They were greeted warmly by the house elves, though Tricks made sure to keep her distance from the dog. Crookshanks was welcomed by many and given a variety of delicacies, all of which he sniffed or lapped at, at most, taking a single small bite. During this process, he was cooed over by all of the elves. From their quiet chatter, Cari gleaned that Crookshanks was a regular visitor to the area, and the small workers had made an effort to learn his favorite dishes in order to make him happy. It was quite touching, honestly, though Crookshanks seemed to merely accept the attention as his due.

The dog, on the other hand, was making an effort to charm the house elves. They remembered him well enough to bring plates full of cooked chicken and steak, which he begged for easily. Despite his plainly-visible ribs and apparent hunger, he still waited for the elves to set the food down and step away before he began eating. Cari had been half-afraid he would dive for the meat as soon as it was placed within his reach.

One of the elves reached out while the dog was devouring the steak, looking to hesitantly pat his head. Cari began to warn that this was a bad idea (it's never smart to interrupt any animal while it is eating), but the dog stopped short and pressed his head up to the elf's hand, panting gleefully as the small creature began to scratch behind his ears.

"Miss Cari!" Tricks's small voice squeaked behind her.

Cari turned to the elf, already smiling. "Hello, Tricks! How are you doing tonight?"

"Very well, Miss, very well!" The elf smiled wryly. "Not as well as Gryffindor tonight, I think!"

Grinning, Cari shook her head. "Did you all provide the snacks for the party? They were very good."

"Yes, Miss, it was our pleasure! But why is you here instead of at the party? Miss should be enjoying herself with the rest of Gryffindor." Tricks' eyes were wide and sincere, looking more than a little concerned for Cari.

"I- I just didn't feel-" Cari trailed weakly, unsure of how she should really answer. _I'm not comfortable around too many Gryffindors at once? I don't really feel like a Gryffindor myself? I'm pretty sure I'm posing as someone I'm not and it's only a matter of time until they catch on?_ "I needed a bit of air," she finished vaguely.

Tricks nodded, but seemed unwilling to drop the subject. "How is you liking Gryffindor, Miss Cari?"

There was an awkward silence as the elves all listened in on their conversation. The dog even stopped eating to stare at her, head cocked to the side. Crookshanks appeared to be taking a nap. Definitely feeling the pressure, Cari forced a shrug. "It's okay, I guess. It's the only House I've ever been in, so I don't have much to compare it to," she said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

"Does you miss your old school?" one of the other elves squeaked out.

Cari frowned. "Yes and no. I miss my friends… and my professors… and my classes… and my family…" she fell silent, fighting back tears, but shook her head and smiled. "But it's no matter. That's all gone, now. I can't do much about it. Hogwarts is nice, and Gryffindor is great. The other students are kind enough, especially with all of the rumors they've heard about me."

Tricks patted Cari's knee gently and Cari's eyes teared up without her volition. She choked out, "It's wonderful, but it's not home."

The dog whined as he stood and rested his heavy head against Cari's arm. She smiled down at him through watery eyes and admitted, "It is more home than it used to be, though. I guess I'm just worried that I'll start feeling like I belong here and then I'll have to leave again."

"Well, Miss Cari is welcome here anytime," Tricks chirped comfortingly, bolstered by cheers of encouragement from the other elves.

Cari smiled her first genuine smile since the conversation had begun. "Thank you all. You really are the best thing about Hogwarts."

And after that, no matter how hard she tried, the elves wouldn't let Cari leave the kitchens without a large basket of snacks and pastries. Despite all of the food from the party, Cari knew the Gryffindors wouldn't let it go to waste and did her best to accept it with grace, realizing with a start that she thought over the never-ending hunger of the Gryffindors with a surge of almost… fondness.

It was far past curfew when Cari began making her way back to the Gryffindor Tower, Crookshanks trotting on one side as the dog bounded along on the other. It was a quiet walk, Cari being lost in her own thoughts, so when the dog let out a menacing bark and lunged forward, it was all she could do not to lose grip on the large basket she was balancing.

Crookshanks had shot over - much more silently - to where the dog was tensed facing a wall. Cari moved closer, looking over the backs of the animals to find a small, gray oblong cowering against the stone. It was Scabbers.

"Scabbers!" she said loudly. "Ron's been looking everywhere for you!"

She stepped forward, but stopped short when a low, quavering growl rose up through the air. Cari turned to find the dog glaring at her, upper lip drawn back over a row of sharp, white teeth. "Calm down," she said, using her best soothing voice. "I know you don't like him much, but he has to go back to his owner. Ron is very worried…"

The dog stopped growling, but his eyes were still wide and angry, so Cari was very careful as she reached toward the rat. A sudden motion was the only warning before those sharp, white teeth clamped where her hand had been just seconds ago. Cari had moved in time; he hadn't bitten her, but she still gasped, stepping backward and cradling her hand against her chest.

 _He seemed like such a tame dog. You should have known better, Romana, there has to be a reason they don't let dogs wander around in Hogwarts. Feel bad for Ron all you want, but Scabbers is just a rat. No reason to get mauled by a dog trying to save him._

While she continued her staring contest with the dog, Cari used her peripheral vision to keep an eye on Scabbers, who shot down the hallway and through a crack in the wall with Crookshanks hot on his heels. The cat was far too large to fit through the crack as well, but he stayed pressed against the wall, fishing through it as far as his paw would reach.

The dog glanced back over his shoulder at the cat before turning to Cari once more. She took another step back, holding both hands out in front of herself, but he made no more lunges. Instead, he dropped his head down, staring up at her in a supplicating pose as he whined. When Cari didn't move, he began slinking toward her, but she shook her head and drew her wand from her back pocket. The dog flinched violently, but Cari merely tapped herself sharply on the head, disillusioning herself, and continued along to the Tower as quickly as she could. She wasn't followed.

It took longer than it should have to remember to remove the spell for the Fat Lady, but Cari gave the password, dropped the basket off in the still-crowded common room, and made her way to her dorm. Hermione was already inside, poring over a massive textbook and muttering to herself.

To Cari's shock, the younger witch tore herself from her constant revising to look up, frown, and ask, "Cari? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, I'm just tired." Shucking her clothes and pulling on a pair of cozy pajamas, Cari crawled into bed and tucked the covers up around herself. Hermione was considerate enough to dim her light, but it didn't really matter. Cari lay there for a long time, staring at the far wall and wondering why a relationship with a stray dog meant so much to her.

* * *

A week later - plus a few days - found Cari in Care of Magical Creatures class. Though he had started the year on a high point, the Buckbeak incident had forced Hagrid to dial things back a few notches. For nearly a month now, Cari's class had been forced to take care of Flobberworms. Why anyone would bother caring for them was beyond her, but she didn't want to make Hagrid look bad by failing or allowing her worm to die. It was still a living creature, after all, even if only barely.

Cari was in the middle of forming her own theory that a well-fed Flobberworm emitted a magic that put the caretaker to sleep (and by 'in the middle of', she meant that she had already considered writing to Newt Scamander, pictured a note in the next edition of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ , and started framing an acceptance speech for a wizarding version of a Nobel prize) when an owl fluttering down broke through her rapidly-forming haze of sleep.

Hagrid accepted the letter from the brown screech owl and peeled it open, taking a moment to scan the contents before ambling over to Cari's work station.

"Cari, Professor Dumbledore wants ter see yeh in his office."

"Thank you, Professor Hagrid," Cari said politely. "Give me a moment to gather my stuff and I'll head out."

"Tha's aright," Hagrid returned easily. "no rush. The only I came over here m'self was to keep from disturbin' th'others. Look at 'em," he looked over the class proudly. "Workin' so hard and doin' such a good job!"

Cari obligingly looked over her classmates. The few who weren't falling asleep as she had been seemed almost angry at their Flobberworms, stuffing lettuce down the worms' throats and scowling at the useless creatures.

"Yeah…" Cari drew slowly, searching for something encouraging to say and coming up with nothing. Instead, she simply threw her bag over her shoulder and stood. "Well, I'd better be going. Don't want to keep Professor Dumbledore waiting!"

"Dumbledore!" George exclaimed, seeming volumes louder than Cari and Hagrid had been.

Sure enough, several of the students turned to stare curiously at at them. A conversation about someone getting in trouble was always interesting enough to merit eavesdropping. Of course, any conversation at all was more interesting than Flobberworms.

"Hey Romana, have you been causing trouble without us?" Fred asked, just as loudly as his twin.

"No, I haven't. I don't know what he wants," Cari answered shortly.

"That seems a little suspicious, Romana," George insisted, waggling his eyebrows.

"I swear, I have no clue, but I'll tell you both later," Cari relented. On the way out of the semicircle of logs that made up the 'classroom', she paused. "Fred, you're crushing your Flobberworm."

Hagrid made a noise of dismay while both twins scoffed. "Not that it would make much difference," one of the assorted other students muttered.

Chuckling, Cari began the formidable walk across the grounds, over to the castle, then up the myriad staircases that would bring her to Professor Dumbledore's office. On the way, she thought over everything she could possibly be in trouble for. _I haven't even done anything! Well, except snuck out after curfew the other night. And I guess it's probably not great that I've been feeding a random dog that occasionally wanders the castle. And I did help the twins with the Snape thing. But other than that..! Romana, he's one-hundred percent sending you home._

Remembering the rumors and odd feelings she had gotten from the Headmaster, Cari did her best to push the thoughts from her mind, more of a struggle than expected with the surge of adrenaline and the recent shot of nerves. There was every chance that Dumbledore would be able to read her thoughts if they were left out in the open like that.

"Miss Romana," Professor Dumbledore greeted as she entered his office. "Don't worry, you aren't in trouble." His eyes twinkled from behind his half-moon glasses, and Cari wasn't sure if he was making a general assumption or if he had been able to read her mind after all.

Regardless of the cause for it, Cari was relieved to hear that she wasn't going to be expelled or anything similar. "Thank you, sir. Might I ask why I'm here, then?"

"You have a visitor," he said simply, nodding to a space behind her.

Cari whirled around, expecting to see her father for a wild moment, but instead was greeted with the sight of Professor Fleet. "Licaria," the Headmistress of Echowick said warmly. "It is nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you, too!" Cari responded, surprised that she was telling the truth. "How is Echowick?"

Professor Fleet made a horrible face. "Exam season, you know how it is. Speaking of, Hogwarts has theirs in just about a month, correct? Are you ready?"

Cari shrugged. "Yeah, I think so. Having an extra month definitely works to my advantage."

"I would imagine so, but remember that it is going to be quite a short summer for you all," Fleet warned, not waiting for a response before moving on in the conversation. "There is a slightly more serious matter I wish to discuss with you. Professor Dumbledore has graciously offered part of his office for our use. I suggest we go there now."

Obligingly, Cari followed Fleet over to a spot similar to the one she had occupied when Kat came to visit before Christmas. It may have even been the same spot, but Dumbledore appeared to have shifted his book collection and Cari wasn't sure enough of the location to say for sure.

"So," Cari started as soon as they had been seated. "What did you need to discuss with me?"

"Well… Licaria, have you ever heard of the Broomsmiths' Association of America?" Cari was taken aback slightly by Professor Fleet's reluctance to look her in the eyes, but nodded regardless.

"Ah, yes. The unfortunately-abbreviated 'BAA'." She bleated like a sheep, and the ghost of a smile flitted across the Headmistress's face.

"Yes, the BAA." Fleet decidedly did _not_ bleat like a sheep. "They take an intense interest in all things broom-related in the United States."

The warm feeling Cari had from seeing her old Headmistress had faded sharply, leaving something undeniably tense in the pit of her stomach. "Are they going to come after me for what happened at the end of last year?"

"No, nothing of the sort," Fleet said, a look of discomfort crossing her face briefly. "In fact, I approached them. You see, I was utterly fascinated by your idea of inserting a wand's core into the broomstick and I wanted to know if something of the kind had ever been attempted before. It hasn't. The BAA immediately granted you a patent on your ideas, documenting them with the blueprints I provided. They just needed to add the Stabilization Charm to make it flyable, and then rigorous testing will be performed to document how it compares to brooms currently on the market-"

"Professor Fleet," Cari interrupted loudly. "I don't want to be rude, but I really couldn't care less. I told you I don't want anything to do with the broom - in fact, I told you to destroy it - but you can do whatever you want. If they need permission to add the last charm, give it to them. It doesn't matter to me."

"I did give them permission," Fleet sighed. "They tried and tried, but nothing would happen."

Cari stared over at her. "What do you mean, 'nothing would happen'? It's a broomstick. Carve the rune and call it a day."

"Your broomstick won't carve, Miss Romana. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Something about the process of adding the core gave the broom a sort of power of its own. No matter how they try to put the rune onto the broomstick, nothing will happen. It literally repels all attempts."

Cari shrugged. "I told you it was cursed. At the very least, it's flawed. Maybe there's just no way to add all of the right charms. Guess we'll never know."

"We need you to try carving it."

"What," Cari said flatly, not bothering to make the word a question. "I know you didn't just ask me that, Fleet."

"Respect, Miss Romana," Professor Fleet admonished sharply. "I may not be your current headmistress, but I do deserve at least a little consideration."

"I think I deserve some consideration, too! You can't possibly be asking me to work on this broom, _the instrument of my best friend's death_ , because you want to get the patent for it. You can't be asking me to do that, because if you are, you aren't worthy of respect."

Fleet straightened up like she had been slapped. "Are you suggesting that I'm doing this for any personal gain?"

"I don't know how else to take it! You're pushing this extremely hard for how short a time it's been, and I really don't appreciate it." Cari flexed her hands and began gripping the arms of her chair to keep from clenching her fingers into fists.

"Miss Romana, has it occurred to you that I'm trying to help?"

"By ignoring all of my wishes to have the broom destroyed and instead taking it to have multiple tests performed on it without my knowledge or consent? Yeah, that sounds so much like help. I don't know how I missed it before!"

"Miss Romana, please sit back down." It was only then that Cari realized she had leapt from her chair and made an effort to settle into it once more. When Professor Fleet launched into their conversation again, it was with a much more empathetic tone than she had used so far. "I understand that you are uncomfortable with the idea of Broomsmithery in your future, but you cannot avoid it. You have an aptitude for the field that is natural and strong beyond belief. It would appear that you were destined to build brooms. You cannot run from who you were meant to be."

Cari snorted indelicately. "I thought that's what this whole year has been about - running away from my problems?"

"You were removed from a dangerous situation for your own safety," Fleet explained patiently. "That is very different from running. Besides, you were never discouraged from working with brooms. Why, several of the professors here said that you've been actively avoiding Quidditch matches all year, despite having friends on the team! That doesn't sound like you, Cari. That doesn't sound at all like the first-year who wrote me a twenty-page essay in two days so that she could learn to fly."

Fighting a smile at the reminder of her tenacious eleven year-old self, Cari shook her head. "I've already lost someone important to me because of my attempts to work with brooms. I can't bear to lose anyone else."

"So, what? You just choose another field to enter after graduation? Despite the fact that this would put you several years behind schedule upon your return to Echowick, I also wish to remind you that your next-highest score in the aptitude test was somewhere in the low 20%. That speaks of a field that you will not only hate, but barely be able to make a living in. I don't want to see you live that kind of life, Licaria. Not you, with all of your passion and fervor."

"Headmistress, please understand," Cari said softly, aware that she was on the verge of begging. "I could do the simplest things for a broom - even just trim the tail twigs - and I would worry that I'm somehow going to mess it up. Working with brooms makes me happy, but is my happiness worth putting the lives of others at risk?"

"I don't think we're going to get anywhere arguing," Fleet conceded after studying Cari for a beat. She rooted through her bag before handing a miniature broomstick to Cari. "It's shrunk down right now, just cast a _f-i-n-i-t-e_ when you're ready for it to be full-sized. You can do whatever you want with that broomstick, Miss Romana, but I will warn you of one thing: when your right to the patent expires and they still haven't heard from you, the BAA _will_ use your blueprints to start producing these brooms and selling them to the highest bidders. At least if you're involved, you can warn about the potential dangers of these brooms and the need to sell them only to persons who can prove their interest is not merely competitive. In the end, it is entirely up to you." Fleet stood, straightening her robes and patting her hair. "I wish you luck with that decision, Miss Romana. It is not one I envy."

Cari took the shrunken broomstick, trying not to react at the rush of power and joy she felt when first making contact with her creation. The broomstick went directly into her pocket, where she did her best to forget about it.

* * *

Author's Note \- Told you guys I would have this out as soon as possible! Of course, I also admitted that it was already half-written, so I guess that's not as big a victory as I would have hoped. Regardless, I'm going to attempt to continue this schedule of updates as long as possible. We shall see. There were no reviews on the last chapter, so I will simply state that I intend to publish the next chapter on next Monday. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, have a great day!


	80. Charms

Adventures At Echowick

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These are the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make me no money.

* * *

Charms

As Hogwarts entered further into May, the students began to show signs of extreme stress. Cari had never seen the library more crowded, and every available workspace was taken throughout the castle. Students commonly used time between classes and even at meals as impromptu study time, and the professors were more than willing to assign the work to take up such large amounts of time. No one was more panicked than the students in the fifth- and seventh-years. OWLs and NEWTs lived in infamy in the minds of the younger students, and everyone dreaded when they would come in their own academic careers. _That's the one good thing about going back to Echowick,_ Cari admitted to herself. _At least I get to skip the big, serious tests!_

Not everyone was affected by test anxiety, however. For example, Oliver Wood was unfailingly cheerful despite how heavy the course load was, as evidenced by the stress Percy Weasley was making certain to broadcast against anyone who got into his way. Everyone knew Wood's reasoning, though: Wood's one goal through his entire Hogwarts career was to be the Captain of the team who won the Quidditch Cup. Now that he had achieved this, George confided that Wood could fail every one of his NEWTs and have to harvest Bubotuber pus for the rest of his life and still be completely satisfied by the way his Hogwarts career had gone.

To no one's surprise - and the supreme irritation of Hermione - the twins weren't studying much either. "Seriously, what are they thinking?" she railed to anyone who would listen. "These aren't something that you can just walk in and pass! OWLs determine what classes you can take for the rest of your Hogwarts career, and what you do with NEWTs-"

"-Sets you up for the rest of your future," Cari finished along with her on one occasion. Hermione had the grace to look abashed. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but I've heard this speech a few times. Have you given it to the twins? They have tons of time, you know, since they're not studying."

"They won't listen!" Hermione had cried, frustrated beyond reason.

"Not much you can do about it," Cari had returned with a shrug, but an odd light had come into Hermione's eyes.

"You can talk to them, though. They listen to you."

Cari had scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about. They most definitely don't listen to me."

"Well, they listen to you more than anyone else,'" she had amended. "Come on, Cari! If they're not going to study, they could fail their OWLs. If that happens, they will have messed up their whole future, not to mention-"

"And that is their business," Cari had said firmly. "I'm not going to play career counselor. I'm not qualified." She had continued to refuse despite Hermione's cajoling, thinking of her conversation with Professor Fleet about her own bleak future.

Out of deference for the study schedules of the other students, the twins had dialed down the pranks quite a bit. When asked about it, they told Cari they intended to keep things quiet. She had difficulty believing this and said so.

"Oh, don't get us wrong, Romana," Fred had warned.

"We have something incredible planned for after exams finish," George explained. Cari had decided that the best course of action was to walk away.

* * *

One Friday in mid-May, Cari slid into a seat at the lunch table, piled her plate full of food, and propped a book open in front of it, reading frantically as she ate.

"Err… Everything all right there, Romana?" George asked.

"Yeah, it isn't like they're going to take away the food if you don't eat it immediately," Fred reassured slowly.

"I know," Cari responded, flipping to the right page. "But I just have a little while to study and eat, then I need to get to Potions early so I can get the good work station. That only leaves me with a couple of minutes before I have to leave."

"You are such a swot, Romana!" George exclaimed, throwing down his fork with a clatter.

"Thank you," she said, not looking away from the book held open in front of her plate.

"Uh, Cari," Harry said uncomfortably, "That isn't exactly a compliment. Not that George meant anything by it…"

"What was the word again?"

"Swot? It means 'nerd', or 'geek'," Hermione answered. Cari wasn't looking, but she could tell from the tone that the younger witch was rolling her eyes. "Usually, it's something lazy people call those who care about their education."

"Ohhh… This whole time, I thought he meant SWAT as in SWAT Team. No, I guess it isn't the compliment I assumed it was," Cari said, unconcerned.

"Swat team?" Ron asked, eyebrows drawn together. "Like, to swat flies or something?"

"Must be pretty bad flies if you need a whole team!" Fred joked.

"No, SWAT team, as in a group of armed Muggles who drop in from helicopters, coming down through the ceiling on occasion. Muggles are pretty used to it." Cari still kept her eyes on the book in front of her. She wasn't reading anymore; she just knew that she would never be able to keep a straight face while saying that.

"… Is she serious?" Percy asked, sounding somewhere between horrified and impressed.

"Extremely," Katie Bell pitched in from down the table, voice serious. "They're more common in America, though. They burst in any time someone says that eagles are stupid or admits that British television programs are better."

Cari nodded, biting the inside of her lip to keep from laughing aloud. "They do have to come into British homes sometimes, like when anyone says they don't like tea or someone does a bad impression of the queen, but I've heard that's pretty rare."

"Happened to my neighbor once. Now he screams any time there's a sound from the roof, even if it's just a bird."

The Weasleys devolved into whispered conversations about this new information as Hermione shook her head and a smirking Harry reached for some more pudding. When she was sure no one was paying attention, Cari looked up and grinned at Katie Bell. The Gryffindor Chaser winked back and both girls returned to their food.

She grew engrossed in her book then, not coming back to the present company until the conversation abruptly broke off. "Cari, didn't you want to leave early for class?"

"What? What time is it?" She caught glimpse of a clock through the open door to the Great Hall and began throwing things into her bag. "Oh, no!"

"Are you honestly in that big of a hurry, Romana?" George asked.

Fred looked as confused as his twin. "It isn't like you're going to be late, even if you left five minutes before the end of lunch."

"Excuse me for wanting to be a good student with what little time I have left here," Cari snapped, the perceived lack of time making her anxious.

"What does that mean?" George asked, utterly unfazed by her sudden shift in tone.

"My exchange program was only for a year," Cari reminded them. "I only have another month here, then I have to go back to Echowick. I need to make the most of my time here, and I can't do that from detention."

She dashed out amid laughter and teasing - mostly based around who spent the largest amount of time in detention - and ran for the dungeons. By the time she got to the Potions classroom, Cari knew her spot would be taken and she would be left with whatever spot she could find. However, she got to the door just as Professor Snape was passing through the doorway to his office and Cari stopped short at the sight of her usual seat, still miraculously untaken. Professor Snape raised an eyebrow at her pause and she flushed, continuing the rush to her work station.

They were working on Pepper-Up Potion that day, as the medicinal potion was supposed to be fairly simple and didn't take long to brew. This didn't turn out to be the case for Cari. Instead of turning a pleasant orange and bubbling properly, her potion was the consistency of sludge and was a sickly-looking yellow. She read and re-read the instructions, but there was no telling where the brew had gone wrong. Potions were one of those unfortunate mediums in which anything - from ingredient freshness to the mood of the brewer - could play a part and serve to drag it further and further awry.

Professor Snape spoke from behind her, causing her to start visibly. _How can someone with such long robes move so silently?_ she asked herself.

"Miss Romana, it appears that your potion is beginning to ferment," the professor drawled out slowly. "Might I suggest a few drops of dragon blood to counteract the effects?"

"Thank you, Professor," Cari said gratefully. "I'll do that right away."

"Be sure to stir it in with an anti-clockwise motion, otherwise you'll do more harm than good." She nodded, focusing on digging through her supplies. Quietly, Professor Snape added, "I'm glad you found your _seat_ after all. I would suggest you avoid being late in the future."

Cari looked back, startled, but the professor had already moved on. So, smiling to herself, Cari made the necessary adjustments and was relieved when her potion righted itself somewhat, thinning in consistency and turning a slightly more orange-ish yellow. At the end of the class period, she decanted the Pepper-Up, labeled the bottle neatly, and placed it on Professor Snape's desk along with the other students. Deliberately, she took her time with the tasks, and ended up being the last student in the dungeons.

"Professor?" Cari asked, walking toward the stock closet when Professor Snape was rearranging ingredients and muttering to himself. He didn't answer her out loud, merely coming to the door of the closet and raising an eyebrow at her. Cari smiled a little and said, "Thank you for saving my seat for me."

He looked offended at that. "Miss Romana, I did nothing of the sort."

"Of course not," Cari agreed easily.

He narrowed his eyes, but moved on, as though he knew she didn't believe him and didn't especially care. "It seemed you were having quite a bit of trouble with the assigned potion."

Cari made a face. "Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with me today. I usually don't struggle that much."

"Hmm. You seem distracted, volatile, as if you've been thinking of something else all day. Do you know of anything going on that fits that description?"

"Not that I can think of," Cari lied, gently touching the still-shrunken broom in her pocket. She hadn't meant to carry it around, but it wouldn't do for Hermione or Ginny to find it in the dorm room and ask questions. Of course, it had nothing to do with the way it calmed Cari to keep it around, and that touching it during the stressful pre-exam period made her feel better and more energized. That didn't mean a thing. Avoiding the professor's dark eyes, she asked, "Is that particular potion going to be on the exam?"

He studied her for a long moment, but appeared to be willing to let her avoidance slide. "It may appear on the written exam, but the practical one is set up somewhat differently. I choose a single potion to test the students on, usually the last one I taught so that more students are likely to pass."

"That's nice of you," Cari said absently, but Professor Snape scoffed.

"Nice? Hardly. I simply do not wish to repeat a year of teaching the same dunderheads when they all fail the exam. As luck would have it, I intend to teach one more potion this year. The difficulty is slightly greater than with the Pepper-Up, but there are fewer steps and less precise instructions. Have you any experience in brewing Forgetfulness Potions, Miss Romana?"

Smiling wryly, Cari said, "I most definitely have. I brew a mean Forgetfulness Potion, professor." Snape seemed nonplussed, so she explained, "I brewed one in my second year and it ended up being dumped on me. At least, that's what I've been told. I still can't remember the incident or the trip to the Hospital Building."

Snape's mouth took on the barest shadow of a smile. "Indeed. I shall count on you to show the Lions how it is done properly." She smiled at that and left the dungeons for her last class of the day.

Though Professor Flitwick was immeasurably kinder - not to mention a more qualified teacher - than Professor Garbin had been, Charms was still one of Cari's least favorite subjects. Today, they were working on the _diffindo_ charm, used for cutting through things. They were practicing on small swaths of white fabric, but Cari was having above-average trouble with hers.

Whereas the other students ended the class period with a neat pile of one-inch squares of fabric, Cari was left with a tangle of white that was more thread than fabric. And no matter how many times she cast, there were no signs of improvement. The charm would seem to be working correctly, but halfway through the fabric, it would snag and pull, creating a ragged edge that was uneven and crooked as Lucius Malfoy.

Chuckling at her own mental joke, Cari pushed the small fluffball toward the edge of the desk as Professor Flitwick came by to observe their results. He looked at hers in concern, but Cari had only a half-apologetic shrug to offer. They both knew her Charms abilities were far from perfect.

"All right, everyone! Class is dismissed. Enjoy your weekend!" the diminutive professor called across the large classroom. Somehow managing to be heard over the resulting flurry of motion and beginnings of conversations, he added, "Miss Romana, will you please stay for a moment? I have a matter I wish to discuss with you."

It was the last class of the day for Cari and she knew nothing Professor Flitwick could have to say would take very long, so she simply remained sitting. As the other students drained slowly from the classroom, Cari toyed with the pile of distressed white threads, carefully avoiding the curious gazes of the last few onlookers - Duncan Jones among them. She didn't truly harbor animosity toward him, or any of the Echowick students anymore. In fact, they ignored her as much as she did them, starting from roughly the time Cari had spoken to her friends about Shadow and they had started to viciously defend her - no matter how much she asked them not to. It was apparent that they had decided Cari was more trouble than she was worth. _The only question is: Will that attitude hold up when we're back at Echowick, or will I have to constantly be ready for attacks?_

"Miss Romana?" Professor Flitwick asked, uncertainty in his voice.

With the distinct feeling that this wasn't the first time the Charms professor had been attempting to get her attention, Cari smiled. "Yes, Professor? Sorry, I guess I was spacing out a bit."

"Miss Romana, I can't help but notice that you have been experiencing difficulties with the assigned charms since the very beginning of the year, and yet you haven't asked for any help."

Cari shrugged. "I've never been good at Charms, as I'm sure you know by now. At this point, I'm hoping to scrape by on the exams, get a decent enough score not to hurt my record card, then never take the class again. I honestly dropped Charms some time ago at Echowick."

Professor Flitwick looked thoughtful. "Would you mind casting a charm now? It can be any one you choose, I simply wish to watch more closely without the distraction of two dozen other students."

"Uh, sure," Cari agreed willingly enough. Feeling a bit of pressure working in her least confident subject in front of a very talented wizard, she cast a Geminio on her quill. To her relief, it worked, but the copy of the feather was less-than perfect. Where her original quill was long, made up of a glossy black feather, and somewhat bendy - she found that meant it was less likely to break in a bag - the copied version was a dull, faded black. When Professor Flitwick picked it up, she could see that the tip was noticeably crooked and the entire thing cracked in half when he attempted to bend it a bit. In short, it was fairly typical for Cari's charms work.

"Ah," Flitwick said mysteriously, resting the broken halves of the duplicated quill gently on the desk once more. "At the beginning of the year, I offer to help all of my students with a wand calibration. You are one I expected to see, but haven't. I don't wish to pry, but have you been through a traumatic event lately? That's usually what causes a wand calibration malfunction of this level."

Not wanting to flat-out lie to her professor, Cari grimaced uncomfortably and stayed silent.

Tactfully, Professor Flitwick didn't press the issue, simply giving a nod and continuing. "Miss Romana, I would be more than happy to calibrate your wand if you wish."

Cari was unable to think of a reason to refuse, so she slid her wand over to the Charms professor, but he handed it back to her. "First of all, I need to ask how you got this wand. I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the process of choosing a wand at other schools."

"Oh," Cari said, blinking stupidly. "Well, during our career placement exams, we had several slivers of wood on the paper. We touched each one and they were analyzed by a wandsmith. He matched us to the wood that reacted the most and ran some algorithms to figure out length. The cores were based on our personalities."

"You Americans," Flitwick said, giving a small chuckle. "Always so dependent on measuring and exact amounts that you forget how much guesswork and intuition goes into magic. If the core and wood type of your wand are based on a test performed so many years ago - and likely longer in terms of emotions and life experiences - I'm not surprised you're having issues now. I need you to hold your wand and bring up your magic, but don't cast any spells with it. This can be slightly uncomfortable, so let me know if you need to take a break."

More curious than nervous at this point, Cari agreed but didn't actually know how to do what the teacher seemed to be needing. Carefully, she pretended like she was going to use a charm, but stayed perfectly still, careful not to move or speak at all. It was hard, and she felt a heat in her wand as the air seemed to thicken.

"Good," Professor Flitwick breathed. "Now hold it…"

Cari was fine until an odd sensation began to intrude on her consciousness. It was as if a force were plucking strings attached to her magic. The feeling shocked her enough that she jumped, but only nodded when Professor Flitwick reminded her to keep still.

The sensations continued and Cari began to feel that the strings were being pulled tighter and tighter. She also became very aware of how the cloud of her magic was funneled into and through the wand held in her hand. When the tension had grown so high as to be nearly unbearable - so sharp and clear and _raw_ \- he stopped.

"That should do it," the diminutive professor tossed out casually, looking completely unaffected. Cari, on the other hand, was fighting not to pant though she knew the exertion hadn't been physical. Professor Flitwick went on, "As soon as you're ready, cast another Geminio. We can make any additional adjustments from there.

Cari took a few deep breaths, steadying herself before attempting the charm. It was incredibly easy. It felt as though everything were exactly the same, but her magic was much closer to the surface than usual. What was more, the duplicated quill was perfect, exact down to the slight charring on the point from when she had left it too close to the fire one evening. Even as Professor Flitwick examined the quill, congratulating her all the while, Cari was thanking him effusively.

Before she could leave, Cari had to promise that she would practice her spellwork as much as possible before the exams, as Professor Flitwick had warned that she could face difficulty with her spells and charms being much more highly-powered than she was used to.

Still floating on the high of increased power, Cari walked into the Great Hall, only just noticing that her wand was cradled in her hands rather than tucked away inside of her robes. It came in handy, however, when a voice came from behind her. "Cari!"

She whipped around, already pointing her wand at the potential attacker only to find the twins standing there with hands raised innocently into the air.

"Sorry, Romana-" Fred apologized.

George nodded, "We were just thinking about what you said earlier-"

"You know, the stuff about making the most of your time here…"

"And we were wondering-"

"If there's anything we could do to help?"

After blinking stupidly for a long moment, Cari frowned at them. "How would you help?"

George shrugged. "Well, is there anything you wanted to do here that you didn't get to?"

Cari pondered the question. "Yeah, one thing, but I don't think you would be able to help much with it."

"Come on, Romana," Fred entreated. "You know we have our ways. What did you want to do?"

"Fine," Cari sighed. "I really wanted to see all of the different common rooms."

"Oh, that?" George asked.

"Easy," the twins finished together.

Cari gaped at them. "Really? Something like that would be easy for you," she said, skepticism plain in her voice.

"Well, to be fair," Fred hedged. "Parts are easy for most people."

"Yeah, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are possible if you really want, but the main problem is Slytherin," George agreed.

Confused by their back and forth, Cari stared at them, waiting for more of an answer. "So… It is possible or it isn't?"

Obviously plotting, George said, "Oh, it is, but it'll take some work…"

"And a bit of a sliding moral scale," Fred added with an evil grin.

* * *

Author's Note \- Once again, apologies for a late update. I've had family in town again (the price one pays for living somewhere 'cool') and I've been dealing with some car issues. That being said, it's been a terrible day and if anyone has some positivity or words of encouragement to share, that would be highly appreciated!

Now! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought! I will have another chapter up as soon as one is completed. Shout-out to ghostcrab311 for the review! It made me laugh pretty hard when you talked about Sirius's hypothetical letter to Remus.

I will see you guys as soon as possible, have a wonderful day!


	81. Common Rooms

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. All of these belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make me no money.

* * *

Common Rooms

The first common room on the list, unsurprisingly, was Hufflepuff. Though most of the Hufflepuffs Cari had ever met are almost ridiculously nice, she still felt the sting of nerves in her stomach as they moved along after classes on a Friday night.

Uncertainly, she asked, "What's the plan?"

Neither of the twins answered her, simply continuing along their winding path in silence. The trio ended up in a hallway in the underbelly of the castle. As they waited opposite a stack of nearly comically-oversized barrels, Cari couldn't help but compare it to the section of the castle that housed the dungeons. The walls here were still made of stone, but instead of being a plain slate gray, susceptible to mold or mildew, these had a hint of tan, giving the entire area a lighter, warmer feel. The whole thing had much more of a 'cozy little nook' feel rather than the 'I wonder how quickly these walls could crush me' aura that pervaded the area of the castle around the dungeons.

As they waited, Cari tried several more times to quiz Fred and George on what the plan was, but they didn't answer, instead keeping their eyes trained on the large stack of barrels. Soon enough, three Hufflepuff students exited the common room, looking to be in the younger years.

"Hello there," George greeted cheerfully.

"How are all of you today?" Fred asked.

"Fine, assuming you aren't planning to play any pranks on us," a brazen little witch said, chuckling slightly.

"No, nothing like that," Fred assured.

"Okay, great," a boy sighed, seeming relieved. "What do you lions want, then?"

"Well, you see," George started.

"This one is our friend Cari Romana," Fred introduced.

Dragging Cari forward, George explained, "She's one of the students from Echowick and she was wondering if she could see your common room."

"Echowick, yeah?" the third student, a quiet young witch, asked. "Do you know Duncan Jones?"

Cari cleared her throat. "Yes, I know Duncan. We used to be friends, but I don't think he likes me much anymore."

The girl rolled her eyes. "He's horrible! Are you like him?"

Unable to fight back the rapidly-forming grin on her face, Cari said, "I like to think I'm not, but I can't be sure."

"Well, if you can promise not to whine like he does, you can all come in," she agreed after a moment.

"Really?" Cari asked, before she could remind herself not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Surely it couldn't be that easy?

"Sure," the first girl said with a shrug. "We're a pretty welcoming House."

Unable to believe the luck, Cari glanced at the twins and followed the students into the barrel the younger students had just exited. A small, packed-earth path led up a slight hill just inside the barrel. When her head crested the top of the hill, Cari gaped at the home-like coziness of the room in front of her.

It was circular, a little reminiscent of Bag-End in one of Cari's favorite series, and everything was either black or an entirely welcoming shade of yellow. Polished wood gleamed, set off by the light filtering through round, porthole style windows. They were set at an odd height, and it took Cari a moment to realize that they were even with the ground. The sun looked strange at such an angle, but the reflections of the beams off the greenhouses and the glinting grass gave off plenty of light. Or, at least, enough to sustain the hundreds of plants spaced haphazardly around the room.

Shelves were set intermittently against the walls, an even mixture of plants and books filling the spaces. Between the shelves, the exposed walls were made up of beautifully-laid brick. The only breaks in the gently-curved walls that weren't taken up by shelves or windows were three large, round doorways: one was painted a cheerful yellow, one was black, and the last was a buttery gold with black curlicues painted lovingly around the edges. The last was the door Cari had entered through, and an ornate painting of a dancing badger hung over it.

The room felt like the embodiment of a smile and a hug and a laugh and a meal with friends all at once and Cari was instantly in love. It was a tad claustrophobic for her tastes, but any discomfort was overshadowed by the sheer positivity filling the air.

An older male student caught Cari's eye and studied her and the twins carefully. Cari braced to be expelled from the marvelous common room, but the student only stood and called loudly, "Puffs! We have guests!"

The low buzz of the room immediately cut off as all students turned their attention to Cari, Fred, and George. It was unnerving, but only for a split second before smiles broke out on the curious faces.

"Hey, guys?"

"What brings you down here?"

"Can we get you anything?"

"I have chocolate!"

This last offer seemed to be entirely sincere, as Cari was offered sweets or snacks multiple times until she finally accepted. She took a peanut butter cookie from a beaming young wizard and thanked him. It was delicious. "Where did you guys get these? I didn't think we had peanut butter cookies any time recently."

"We haven't," a third-year named Ernie answered. "Some of the Puffs like to bake and Sprout made sure we have access to the ovens." He shrugged. "We're close enough to the kitchens, after all."

"Well, they're fantastic," Cari complimented. "Honestly, the best cookies I've had in a long time."

Ernie smiled as he left, promising to pass the message along.

Finally left alone with the Weasley twins, Cari frowned. "This was your plan? Just ask to get in and hope they say yes?"

"Pretty much."

"'Bout sums it up."

"The Puffs are pretty laid-back."

"We knew they wouldn't mind us coming in."

"And they're courteous, too!"

"Yeah, watch!" George tossed a minute sparkle of blue dust into the air in front of her face and Cari sneezed, immediate and violently. The sneeze was met with a barrage of 'bless you's. After thanking the well-wishers, Cari turned back to glare at the twins. George was unconcerned. "Just the way they are."

"Once, a really bad cold went around Hogwarts," Fred explained. "Everyone had the same symptoms: sneezing, fever, and chills. Well, Pomfrey noticed that the Hufflepuffs all had one additional symptom: sore throats."

He raised his eyebrows at her significantly, but Cari must have missed the point. "Okay, and?"

"Well," George jumped in. "When Pomfrey ran a series of diagnostic spells, she found out that it wasn't a symptom of the illness."

"No, it was a just a case of strained vocal cords from all of the blessing people they were doing," Fred finished with a tone of relish.

"I seriously doubt that's true," Cari said skeptically. Fred's hand lifted a bit, but Cari slapped it away and glared at him. "Don't even think about it. No more sneeze powder or whatever you're calling it."

"We actually don't have a name for it yet," George said cheerfully.

"But do you like it?" Fred asked, eagerness plain in his voice. "It's the first product we've designed."

"Zonko's has something similar, but it isn't instant. Theirs needs time to work its way up into the nose," George explained matter-of-factly.

"Thrilling," Cari said dryly, but then felt bad. "Actually, that is really cool and I'm proud of you both! Just don't use it on me again, okay? It smells terrible."

"Deal!" they accepted simultaneously.

"Oi, Lions!" Zacharias Smith called. "Dinnertime, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure," Cari agreed. With one last look at the glorious common room, Cari followed the sea of Hufflepuffs to the Great Hall.

* * *

It took nearly two days to get the next excursion set up, but just after dinner, Cari found herself climbing a variety of staircases. _The Ravenclaw common room must be nearly as far up in the air as the Gryffindor one is,_ she mused silently, watching the twins joke back and forth without a care. It was obvious that neither of them was the slightest bit nervous about their chances of gaining entrance to the Ravenclaws' gathering place. Cari didn't share their optimism, but the twins had proven in the past to be more than a little resourceful with their abilities.

When they got to the top of their most-recent staircase, the group was met with a simple door. It was made of dark, antique-looking wood, the expanse broken only by a bronze door knocker molded into the shape of an eagle.

"Something exists in this world, something so delicate that the simple utterance of its name will cause it to shatter. Of what do I speak?"

Cari jumped at the deep, croaking voice that resounded through the small space at the top of the staircase. It took an uncomfortably long time for her to realize that it was emanating from the door knocker itself. Fighting _Labyrinth_ memories, Cari stared at it intently, turning the words over in her mind. Behind her, the twins groaned.

"Of course, the 'Claws would want us to answer one of their bloody riddles before we can go in."

"Wouldn't be them if they didn't."

"Something so delicate that saying its name will break it," Cari mused. "It has to be thin, then. Nothing thick can be that fragile."

"That would depend on the situation," the eagle informed her.

Cari frowned at it, but jumped back with a start as a pretty, dark-haired witch exited. The girl seemed taken aback at the presence of three students - Gryffindors, no less - but recovered well. "Er- hello. Weasleys. And- Romana, is it? Cari?"

"Hi," Cari greeted, smiling weakly. "I think we have classes together. Aren't you Cho?"

"Yes," Cho replied simply. "You sit with us in History of Magic. You pay attention better than most of the Lions do." She made a face at the twins, who smirked. Cho rolled her eyes, continuing, "But what are the three of you doing here?"

"Well-" Cari started, ready to come clean and hope for the best, but was intercepted smoothly by George.

"You see, the Echowick students all have to do an assignment-"

"They have to write a paper, you see," Fred explained.

"Yes, about something at Hogwarts."

"And Romana here has to write about the different common rooms."

"Yeah, and she's been in ours."

"Of course."

"And the Hufflepuffs', but we were wondering..."

"If you could describe your common room to her so she could keep writing?"

"It would be a really big help," Cari pitched in at last, finally catching on to the twins' strategy.

Cho gaped at them all, a slight mix of horror in the expression. "Of course I can't! You would be writing from experience with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but only through the lens of my own perspective for Ravenclaw. The bias is unacceptable."

"Bias?" Cari asked innocently. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"For example," Cho started with an exasperated air, "I would describe our common room as airy and freeing for the intellect. You might feel the opposite and find it cold and sterile. You would write about the common room from what I think of it instead of from your own experience. Now, if you were doing your paper on what the residents of each House think of their own common room, that would be a different story, but you aren't. Right?"

Cari shook her head and Cho sighed deeply. "Well, you'll have to come in and see it for yourself." She glared at the twins. "You can come in, too, as long as you aren't planning on causing any mischief."

"They'll behave, I promise," Cari said immediately, trying to ignore the grins appearing on Fred and George's faces.

"Well?" Cho asked expectantly, gesturing to the door. "I can't let you in. You have to prove that you're worthy by solving today's riddle."

Fred sighed. "Always a catch."

"Okay, something that can be shattered by saying its name..." Cari drew out, starting her analysis over. "It can be thin or not, depending on the situation."

Cho nodded approvingly, "Solid reasoning so far."

"Well, it sounds like there are a lot of variables that change in this," George said, obviously impressed with himself.

"Did you strain yourself coming up with that, Georgie?" Fred asked, grinning.

This set off a war of elbows between the two boys and Cari promptly stopped paying attention to them. "But... What if it wasn't something that could be broken by a specific word, but a sound? Maybe just any sound at all?" Cho quirked her eyebrows upward and Cari addressed the eagle itself. "Is the answer 'silence'?"

"Your reasoning is sound. You may enter."

The large door swung open and Cari couldn't help but give a little gasp. Unlike with Hufflepuff, this door led directly into the common room itself, and it was awe-inspiring.

The Ravenclaw common room was tall, marble walls arching upward until they met a recreation of the sky-ceiling found in the Great Hall. Currently, it was showing a smattering of clouds, painted with smoky purples and blazing gold from the sunset. Light from said sunset was streaming in through the tall windows, highlighting various features of the room.

There were bookcases everywhere, but despite their packed shelves, books were still stacked against walls, in heaps on the floor, and on every other surface. It reminded Cari of Dumbledore's office, but all of the books were kept neatly stacked: all of the spines faced out so that the titles could be red, and none were placed in a way that could affect their pages. They also seemed to be organized by subject, and - as well-read as she considered herself - Cari hardly knew so many subjects existed. It felt like a museum, but the kind of museum one wanted to spend hours combing through. Soft music played in the background, somehow complementing the view of mountains through the windows. Cari took in a deep breath. The air was light, filled with the vanilla-esque scent of old books.

It was perfection, but what truly set the Ravenclaw common room apart was the aura of it all. There was a thirst for knowledge, a burning need to dig in and research, a savage triumph of discovery... All of these, coupled with the peaceful atmosphere and the softly-tinted clouds overhead, made for a disparity that Cari found intensely stimulating to her mind. It was as though the air itself were urging her to delve into the knowledge offered by the world, and she was enjoying the new-found need to learn.

"Being in here," Fred said softly, slowly. "It's like…"

"You can feel yourself becoming a swot?" George supplied helpfully.

"Exactly!" Fred agreed. "Look around fast, Romana. I don't want to be here for too long."

"Could ruin a man's reputation, you know."

Cari rolled her eyes at their antics and moved away quickly. Despite what they said about the room, she loved it. As she crossed the midnight-blue carpet, she dragged her fingertips along the backs of the worn, bronze-colored suede of the couches and chairs. Only a few students could be seen around the room: studying, doing experiments, or simply casting spells for the sheer joy of using magic. Cari understood that deeply. She caught sight of Crasini Breece sitting at a table on the far side of the room and exchanged a nod with him. He was an Echowick student one year ahead of her. He seemed to fit into Ravenclaw rather well, and was still fairly pleasant with Cari.

Immersed in thoughts of Crasini and whether she could count him as a friend when they returned back home, Cari wasn't paying as much attention to her surroundings as was wise. As a result, she was passing the couch closest to the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw when she tripped over a suddenly-appearing pair of legs.

Thrown off by her abrupt arrival on the floor of the common room, Cari stared around in puzzlement. The owner of the legs sat up, straightening a pair of crazily-colored socks. Cari seemed to have knocked the random zig-zags out of line as she fell.

"Hello, Cari," Luna greeted pleasantly. "I thought I recognized your bellow."

"Oh... Hey, Luna," Cari said in confused reflex. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"I like to sit close to the statue of Rowena," the spacey blonde explained patiently. "She hums in the most lovely way when everyone is quiet enough. But what are you doing here, Cari?"

"I wanted to see all of the common rooms. The twins are helping me."

"Parvati and Padma?" Luna asked quizzically.

"Uh, no. Fred and George."

Luna's dreamy eyes sharpened. "That's interesting. I didn't think the eagle would let the Weasley twins in here after all the times they've tried to break in."

"They've tried to break in here before?" Cari asked, horrified. "They keep acting so bored! I assumed they wouldn't have chosen to come in here if I hadn't made them."

Shrugging, Luna said, "I was told they were trying to get in for the longest time. Something about being able to prank more accurately once they've seen where people sleep?" Her face cleared abruptly. "Anyway, was there anything else in the common room you wanted to see?"

Cari glanced around in an attempt to buy time while she thought of a way to say 'not really' in a polite way. Luna waited patiently, but Cari couldn't come up with anything. Hoping she wasn't going to offend the sweet, strange girl, she said, "I'm not really sure. Is there much else to see around here?"

Smiling kindly, Luna said, "Not especially. I don't know if you've noticed, but Ravenclaw is interesting because of the people, not because of the common room. Unless you know anyone around here or want to help out with some of the experiments, this is more of a place to research and learn than to walk around and look. You can't learn anything if you're not willing to delve in and get started!"

Despite the slow, meandering tone that was used to deliver the information, Cari had to admit that Luna made a good point. "Well, that makes sense! I don't want to give Fred and George too much of an opportunity to plan pranks against you guys, so I'll have to skip delving in at the moment. I guess we better get going, then."

"Ooh, wait a minute!" Luna bounded lightly to her feet, tugging gently at Cari's arm until they both stood at one of the large windows. Thick, syrupy, late-afternoon sunlight streamed in through the arched window and Cari squinted against the light from both the sun and its reflection on the lake. "You wouldn't want to miss this," Luna whispered.

Cari was just about to ask what in particular Luna was referring to when the edges of the rapidly-sinking sun met the surface of the lake. Colors exploded out around the grounds of the castle, fantastic oranges, burning reds, and blazing yellows. Cari gaped silently, taking in all that she could, but it didn't seem to end. After the sun had fallen further behind the horizon, the soft purples and blues began to creep out from the treeline and the cliffs lining parts of the lake, stretching farther and farther until the world was encased in a dreamlike dusk. The Ravenclaw common room was far enough in the air that Cari knew it was impossible to actually hear the insects singing through the end of the day, but she swore their melancholy song was audible. Cari was lost in a strange reverie for a long moment, thinking over the passing of time and how precious every day was.

Eventually, she shook herself and turned to Luna, who was watching with a kind, knowing amusement in her light eyes. "I know," she said softly, and Cari didn't doubt for a moment that the younger girl actually did.

"Thank you, Luna," Cari murmured.

"Oi, Romana!"

The voice, immediately recognizable as belonging to a Weasley twin, broke the spell. Smiling gratefully at Luna once more, Cari stood and crossed the expanse of carpet once more. "You guys ready?"

"We're not the ones who have been staring out of a window for the past twenty minutes," George said grumpily.

"It was not twenty minutes!" Cari scolded. "But I'm ready now if you are."

"Finally," Fred muttered.

Cari rolled her eyes as she followed them out of the large, dark wood door once more, pausing only to give a grateful wave to Cho Chang, who was chatting nearby with a curly-haired witch. The twins called a cheerful hello to Crasini Breece, who replied in kind, then they were off.

* * *

Finals were nearly upon Hogwarts by the time the twins told Cari they were ready to get into the Slytherin common room. It was a Wednesday morning and Cari was enthralled by the History of Magic lecture Professor Binns was delivering. Yes, he told it in a very dry manner, but he was talking about the divisions of elves into the major categories of House Elves, the more human-sized and elegant Woodland Fae, the extraordinarily dangerous Lesser Fae - a division which included Kelpies, Manticores, and Yaoguai, and the various subcategories and branches which encompassed most pixies and sprites. Halfway through the lecture, Cari was violently startled by a loud whisper at her knee.

"Romana! Are you seriously paying attention in this class?"

Trying to disguise her jump as an oddly-intense shiver, Cari glared down at the voice. Fred beamed up at her. "It's a good thing you sit up here with the other swots. Makes it much easier to sneak out. Come on!"

Cari sat for a moment, wondering if she should simply ignore him altogether, but he began tugging at her ankle. With a nearly-silent sigh, she packed up her half-written notes, closed her ink, and tucked away her quill before ducking down to crawl along the floor with Fred. Fortunately, her seat today was fairly close to the wall, which was where they ended up going. After pressing a nearly-invisible square on the wainscoting, part of the ornate pattern on the wall itself fell back, leaving a gap for them to crawl through. As Cari entered the typically-dark and gloomy passageway, she did her best to ignore the jealous mutterings of the other Gryffindors who wanted to skip class. Little did they know that this outing would be anything but relaxing.

"You better hope that stuff won't be on the final," Cari warned, crawling along.

"It won't be. Probably. I don't think so? Besides, you have enough notes there to figure out the rest of it. Oh, and you can stand up now."

Cari struggled hesitantly to her feet, bracing for an impact at any moment, but none came. She straightened fully, noticing with a grimace that she could practically feel Fred's smile, even in the utter darkness. "Shut up," she grumbled.

"Hang on, I'll lead you where you need to go," Fred said, edging around her in the narrow passageway. "It's not too much farther."

Cari followed in silence for a long moment before asking, "Where is George?"

When Fred answered, it was with an obvious grin in his voice. "He's off distracting the Slytherins, of course."

"Distracting them? Most of them are in class, right?"

"Well, yeah, most. Not all. Besides, what's the fun in that?"

Cari shook her head. "Well, what is he going to do?"

"Let's just say Peeves is always willing to make a little trouble with Snape, and Snape never lets Peeves get away with much before he snaps."

It was a terrible plan, but Cari wasn't going to say it out loud.

When they got to the stretch of hallway they had explored back on Halloween night, a grinning George met with them. "Are you guys finally ready? Been waiting here forever."

"Sorry, Georgie," Fred apologized lightly. "Romana here had to tear herself away from a riveting History of Magic lesson."

"Seriously, Romana?" George laughed.

"Shut up," Cari repeated. It seemed worth repeating. "Did you two finally figure out the password? I want to get in and out before the Slytherins get back."

"No, we don't know the password, but we put something in place that day we were impersonating Snape," Fred confided.

George nodded. "Turns out, even the common room walls listen when he tells them to open."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Follow us," they said together.

As it turned out, one of the twins had opened an old passageway, one that led directly into the common room. 'Old' might have been an understatement, in fact. The passageway looked absolutely ancient, if Cari was to go from the carvings and worn sandstone of the entrance and walls. She was dragging her hands along the large, soft-edged stones, thinking about whether they had been here since Hogwarts itself had been built, and consequently missed the part when they actually walked out of the passage. Instead, she looked up and found herself immersed in the expanse of room.

Chills marched down Cari's arms as she stepped into the room, head turning back and forth rapidly, but not nearly rapidly enough to suit her. She couldn't possibly look at everything at once, yet that was what she wanted so badly to do.

The entire room was dark and shadowed. Not dim or poorly-lit, but pointedly, decidedly shadowed. It was like a haze; that odd, tucked-in feeling of being in a room with the curtains drawn while the sun was still shining. There were a few torches, some rounded lamps hanging from the ceiling that appeared to be made of brushed titanium, or some magical equivalent. These cast light in small, concentrated pools, but most of the ambient light came from the enormous windows lining the far wall. They looked out into a greenish-blue expanse of water, murky and opaque, but only until one looked closer. What appeared to be a haze of algae-ridden liquid was actually a gigantic amount of water, so much that even the clearness of it appeared to be clouded. Cari couldn't remember moving, but she found herself standing next to one of the windows, hand pressed to the thick barrier between herself and what would probably be a watery death. One of the small dots she had assumed to be a bit of leaf or a chunk of oddly-buoyant dirt turned out to be a creature floating very far off in the lake. She pressed even closer, trying to figure out what it was, but was forced to jump back when a mer-creature swam up from below the bottom edge of the window, darting up through the water in a silvery flash to make a horrendous face at Cari.

She didn't shriek, though it was a definite possibility at first, but the twins still laughed at her. "Edgy, Romana?"

"Never seen anyone jump that far without levitating."

Cari just shook her head in response to their teasing, recognizing it for the release of stress that it was. After all, they were still taking a risk by being here, still only one Slytherin student away from being in tremendous trouble. Instead, she turned back to the common room, looking at it from the other side.

From this direction, everything was visible rather than being silhouetted against the odd green light of the lake. "Dismal, isn't it?" George asked.

Cari wanted desperately to disagree, but was afraid that the twins would think her strange. The furniture was well cared for, running strongly to dark leathers and black-painted wood. There were some marble pieces scattered throughout to keep things interesting, and most of the accents and hardware were made of silver or titanium, enough to break up the darkness, but not shift the tone of the room. As with the other common rooms, there were bookshelves - though these held thick books, ones bound in leather so ancient that it was veined with cracks. Tapestries of medieval scenes lined the walls, but the largest and most ornate was one of a silver-embroidered snake, hung on the large stones of the fireplace.

The room was moody and mysterious, dark and thoughtful, but Cari was put on edge by the feeling. Where she had loved the other common rooms, this one felt... Like home. Where the other Houses had seemed like places she wished she could experience, lives she would want in a parallel universe, Slytherin's felt like a piece she hadn't known was missing had been put back. As if she was finally somewhere she belonged.

"Er, Romana?" Fred asked hesitantly. "We probably need to get going."

"What?" Cari whirled around to face her friends, sure she had misheard them.

"Well, this isn't exactly a place we can spend a lot of time," George explained sheepishly.

Fred nodded. "While the other Houses didn't mind if we were there, we have no friends in Slytherin."

"Yes, but Cari does," another voice pitched in.

All three jumped, but before Cari could mock the twins as they had her, she turned to find Atrox's familiarly distinctive face smiling at her. "Atrox! You scared us!"

The girl laughed, a light, utterly joyful sound. "I don't mind admitting that you frightened me, too! I must admit that it was a shock to find three Gryffindors in the common room. How did you get in here?"

"Why should we tell a Slytherin?" the twins asked.

At the same moment, Cari answered, "Through that passageway."

Ignoring the glares she could feel from the twins, Cari concentrated on Atrox, whose face took on an intense expression of concern. "You came through the self-sealing passageway?"

"Self-sealing? What does that mean?" Cari asked.

"It means that it re-seals itself every time the Head of House passes through the entrance to the common room. It's a way for Slytherins to be sure we won't have any unexpected company."

"Well, doesn't work very well, does it?" George sneered.

"It works perfectly," Atrox replied, tone matter-of-fact. "The only one who can open it is Professor Snape himself."

"Exactly," Fred pointed out with relish. "When George and I were Polyjuiced as Snape the other week, we opened the passageway. That's how we knew we could get through."

"Yes, I had figured that," Atrox informed them. "But do you really believe that Professor Snape has neither left nor entered the common room since then?"

At once, the air of the twins shifted. "Has he?"

"Multiple times," the Slytherin girl confirmed. "If that passageway was open for you, it was for a reason." She glanced around briefly. "We need to get you three out of here. Something doesn't feel right."

Cari followed the twins back toward the ultra-subtle outcropping of stone where the doorway was located, but they couldn't even begin to enter it. The stone had turned solid once more.

"Bloody hell!"

"What do we do now?"

Atrox stayed silent for a long moment, but Cari could practically hear the gears turning in her mind. "You stay here. Give me five minutes and I'll keep all of the Slytherins out of the area. I'll even stall Professor Snape if I have to. Once the time is up, leave the same way I do, and get as far from here as possible."

"Thank you, Atrox," Cari said gratefully. "I'm so sorry you have to do this."

"I never have a problem helping you, Licaria," she said with a smile. "But in the future, it would help if you three could keep from playing too many jokes on Snape. He is frightfully vengeful, you know."

She darted out of the room, carefully standing on a particular stone embedded in the floor. A section of stone wall slid back silently, allowing her through before it settled seamlessly back into place. Cari waited a moment, then stepped forward, following where Atrox had led so that she could examine which stone was the correct trigger. It was a small stone, one worn smooth by time and feet and embossed with a silver snake, stylized into forming an 's' shape.

Once she was certain she knew the way out, Cari went back to wandering the room. The twins followed, but seemed far less than pleased.

"I hate this place," George said with a shiver.

"Really?" Cari asked absently. "I like it."

"You like all of the common rooms, Romana," Fred grinned.

"True, but this one... It's just wonderful. I feel like I could spend forever here and never get tired of it."

"You're a strange one," George chuckled.

"Yeah, I think I would go absolutely mad in here. I miss the sunshine," Fred said.

"Agreed. Want to visit the squid after this?" George asked.

"Might as well. It's almost lunchtime," Fred decided with a shrug.

"It's almost lunchtime?" Cari asked, horrified. "We haven't been here that long!"

"Well, by the time we got you-"

"-got through the passageway down here-"

"-went through the self-sealing passageway-"

"-and you walked around forever-"

"Yeah, it's been that long," they finished together.

"It's also been five minutes," Cari retorted. "Let's get out of here before we get caught."

There were no arguments with that. With a final, searching stare, Cari left the wondrous common room.

* * *

Author's Note \- I know this one took _forever_ to get to you guys, but what began as just a silly little side-quest became a real need to do the common rooms justice. I even had a few people help out and make sure I was accurately representing everyone in this monster of a chapter. I hope it turned out well. There's something to be said for the combination of Fighter's Block and Ambient Mixer's common room series. If you're a writer (or someone who simply wants to feel audibly immersed in a fictional location), definitely check those out!

ghostcrab311: I feel your imagination probably brought up better ideas of a sideways Slytherin common room visit, but I was pressed for space. Hope this wasn't too much of a disappointment! Thank you for your review, though I definitely understand being buried by work (hence the week+ lateness of this posting). Thanks for taking the time when you had it!

That's all I have for you guys right now. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and leave a review if you're feeling it! Lord willing, I'll see you guys shortly with another chapter! Have a wonderful day!


	82. Exams: Year Four

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry_ Potter or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling, her publishers, and Warner Brothers. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make me no money.

* * *

Exams

"You'll never guess what I saw the other day!"

"Was it the Grim again? I heard there were a few sightings this week."

Cari rolled her eyes at the conversation taking place behind her. The two students seemed to be walking at the same speed she was, and she couldn't outpace them, more was the pity for her brain cells. It seemed like the entire castle was talking about the large black dog and its supposed meaning as a sign of impending doom.

She, of course, knew differently. It was more than likely the same dog she had seen throughout the year. It was strange that people were only now beginning to comment on his presence, but after he had snapped at her, Cari wasn't in much of a hurry to hang around the fluffy black canine.

Before she could get lost in the depths of wondering what had happened to her friend, Cari shook herself and began walking faster. It was a long trip to the Divination classroom, and the Monday morning final was the one thing in the class she couldn't afford to miss. She had fallen into step with several fellow Divination students and remorselessly eavesdropped on more interesting conversations.

Professor Trelawney had mentioned during the previous week that students would be given a choice of gazing into a crystal ball or using an incense stick for smoke magic and they would be required to give an account of future events. It was a rather open-ended exam, but it sounded as though most students were going to try to work the Grim into their answers. Since a startlingly high number of Trelawney's lectures from the past months had featured hints and sightings of the mythical black dog, the students were obviously hoping its inclusion would legitimize their answers somewhat.

When Cari finally arrived in the classroom, Professor Trelawney met them. She was wearing an arresting shade of purple and seemed to be in top form all around. "Greetings, students!" she trilled excitedly. "I hope your Inner Eye is wide open, for today, we will discover just how accurate you are. Not that accuracy is an appropriate measure of Sight, but we must show that you are developing slightly in this course. Honing your Eye, as it were." She seemed to be waiting for chuckles, but a combination of the early hour and the rapidity of her words had pulled most of the class into a dazed stupor.

In a slightly disappointed tone, she continued, "You are given a choice between the use of a crystal ball or a stick of incense. Please retrieve one from the table next to my desk and return to your seats."

There was a flurry of movement toward the mentioned spot as the students gathered their required item. Cari chose a stick of incense, figuring that - in the likely event she saw nothing - smoke was at least more interesting to watch than mist in a ball. At least smoke could be magicked around to create shapes or attack an unsuspecting student.

To Cari's incredible satisfaction, she found herself sitting at a table by herself. She had been all year, of course, but people seemed to like moving about during exam time. "And now, my students," Professor Trelawney murmured in a voice that tried just a touch too hard to be mysterious, "Let the examination begin."

Gamely, Cari lit the tip of the incense with her wand and stared at it for nearly ten minutes. By that point, she was bored enough to glance around the room. Several students appeared to be asleep, most were zoned out with their eyes in the general direction of a crystal ball or incense stick, and a whopping two were writing on the provided parchment. Of those two, Cari was fairly certain one was only doodling.

When Cari had asked who would be administering the exam, Professor Trelawney had answered that she herself would be watching the students and grading their efforts. "After several years," she had said, "the Ministry finally realizes how imprecise an art Divination is, and how impossible to regulate. They informed me that they aren't going to send a representative this year."

Personally, she thought that the only thing more boring than trying to come up with shapes in smoke was watching someone else try. She couldn't blame the Ministry, because she wouldn't want to babysit a bunch of teenagers trying - and failing - not to doze.

Settling back onto the cushy seat, Cari stared up at the smoke emitting slowly from the incense stick. She wasn't seeing anything, but the odd ridges and edges of the smoke reminded her of the movie _Pocahontas_ , one of her favorites from childhood. Idly, she wondered if she could just write down the plot of the movie and get a decent grade. Surely Trelawney wasn't incredibly well-versed in American history, not enough so that she would recognize the story.

She straightened a bit. That wasn't a bad idea, using the plot of a story or film in place of an event. But maybe something less likely to be known in the wizarding world, something more innately Muggle. She went through old stories in her mind, favorite films of her childhood, and finally settled on _Back to the Future_.

Deciding once and for all that this was her best bet, Cari set her quill to the parchment and carefully detailed, _Young adult travels back in time, meets his parents (though in a different way than he expects), and attempts to save the life of an older man - a friend._

She couldn't really come up with much beyond that, at least, not any details which could translate to things realistically able to happen. After all, for all of the differences between the Muggle and wizarding worlds, no one here had created a Flux Capacitor… at least, not that she knew of.

When Professor Trelawney called an end to the exam several minutes later, Cari was confident in her answer. Even if the Divination professor didn't believe her, the story was interesting and fantastic enough to entertain, and that was often enough. Besides, she hadn't divulged whether or not the friend's life was saved. If there was one thing Trelawney lived for, it was a tragic ending. It was why she liked Cari.

After the students had been released from the Divination final, they could go to their next or do as they pleased around Hogwarts for a while. As Cari's next final - Potions - wasn't until after lunch, she elected to walk around. There was a startling lack of student activity; Cari didn't think she had ever seen the castle so empty! It seemed most students were either taking exams or studying frantically in the library. Deciding that such a crowded atmosphere could hardly be of any help to her, Cari founded a shaded spot in one of the courtyards and alternated between refreshing her potions knowledge and staring around the school.

The walls were ornate, and even the exterior halls passing through the area had large, glass-less windows lines with arched sections of stone. It looked exactly what it was: an incredibly old building created with care by people who had high hopes for its future. _I'm not nearly ready to go back,_ Cari mused idly, _but at least I got the chance to come here, even just for one year._

She was abruptly shaken out of her reverie by the students thundering toward the Great Hall for lunch and - after quickly packing up her books - Cari joined them. To no one's surprise, the conversation veered straight to the subject of exams, and how students felt they had done. The general consensus was that Potions had been the most difficult, and Cari dreaded the next few hours.

The afternoon passed decently well, however. Professor Snape paid no mind to the Ministry official in the classroom, speaking to them as he usually did. "You are to brew a Forgetfulness Potion for your practical exam. It should be easy, but my expectations are… low."

Despite the silky snark in his voice, the class did fairly well. Cari herself turned in what she humbly considered to be a wonderful potion. The written portion wasn't bad, either. There was a rather large section on different ingredients and how they would typically react with each other, and that was something she had focused on intensely during her studying.

That night, at midnight, she had her Astronomy exam. Students were instructed to create a star chart for that night, focusing particularly on _Canis Majoris_ and the meaning of its current place in the sky, then compare it to a star chart they were to create - from memory - of their latest birthday. That was fairly simple for Cari as well. Her birthday had passed quietly only weeks before, so she just needed to make a few small adjustments. It still took over an hour to get done, which was truly unfortunate, as her History of Magic exam took place the next morning at seven.

The second day of exams found a bleary-eyed Cari scribbling frantically at a desk in the History of Magic classroom. Sure enough, the divisions of elves was one of the main points of the exam, and Cari cursed Fred under her breath as she wrote what she could remember.

The Great Hall had been offering extended meal times to accommodate students with odd schedules, so Cari dropped by to grab a muffin on her way to Herbology. Professor Sprout had thrown it back with a practical focusing on the Centaury plant, covered only briefly at the very beginning of the year. Their theory portion was simply to write a few of its uses and how it should be prepared. The entire exam was finished by twelve-thirty, and Cari followed her fellow students to the Great Hall once more.

Collapsing exhaustedly into a seat, Cari wondered briefly if it was worth it to get to the Tower and try to get a nap in, but Transfigurations started in roughly an hour and the last thing she needed was to be nap-foggy during that particular exam. And so, praying for the energy-replenishing properties of shepherd's pie, she began eating.

"What's wrong with you, Romana?" George asked from across the table.

"Astronomy exam last night at midnight. History of Magic at seven this morning," she slurred, head propped on one folded arm.

Fred groaned sympathetically. "That is rough. Here, this should help."

He offered her a small vial of some purple potion, already uncapped and ready to go. Cari accepted the glass container and drained it without a moment's hesitation.

Hermione, seated several people to Cari's left, leaned forward with a look of horror on her face. "Cari! You just took an unknown potion - one offered by the _Weasley twins_ , no less! Are you absolutely insane?"

Cari shrugged. "Worst case, it sends me to the Hospital Wing and I get to sleep there and miss an exam."

"And it isn't like it was poison," George said, acting mock-affronted.

Fred nodded. "It was something we've been working on."

"Tested it on ourselves," George agreed.

"It's sort of like a Muggle energy drink, but much more powerful and without the crash," Fred explained.

"How do you know about energy drinks?" Seamus asked curiously.

"Dad," both answered together.

Cari grabbed the vial and flung it at Fred. He dodged it neatly - letting it shatter on the floor behind him - while he turned to her with a shocked expression. "Oi! What was that for, Romana?"

"The division of elves into sub-categories _was_ on the exam!" she lectured, remembering suddenly.

"Yeah, he said it would be," one of Cari's classmates from History of Magic said. "Where did you go that you missed that part?"

"Nowhere." The non-answer was given by the twins and Cari simultaneously. Grudgingly, Cari admitted to herself that she did feel quite a bit better.

"So, what do you have left for today?" Hermione asked.

"Transfiguration, both parts. Exam starts at two." Turning, she caught sight of the large clock in the Great Hall and groaned. "- Which is in about half an hour. Guess I'll better get going." Several students called good luck to Cari while others grumbled and began gathering their belongings. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who hadn't realized the time.

Transfiguration was brutal. After the challenging theory section and the demanding practical, Cari had time for a bleary dinner before going straight to bed. In the brief time it took her to fall asleep, she basked in the distant, comforting sounds of Hermione shuffling through sheafs of notes while Ginny scribbled with a quill.

* * *

Cari had a very specific plan for the next day: sleep in as long as humanly possible, grab a quick lunch, then head off to her Charms practical (scheduled for eleven am and lasting only a single hour). This didn't happen. At roughly nine-thirty, someone knocked on the door to Cari's dorm. She did her best to ignore it, but the knocking was insistent. Finally, she stumbled over to the door, pulling it open and standing in the gap, staring silently at the first-year on the other side.

The girl, for her part, looked terrified. "C-Cari?" Cari grunted noncommittally and the girl rushed out with, "The Weasley twins told me to come get you. They want you to come downstairs. If you do, they'll leave me alone for the rest of the school year."

Cari blinked at the girl, processing what she had said. "You know there is only about a week and a half left of the year, right?"

"I know, but I haven't been pranked all year, and I really don't want to if I can possibly avoid it, and the only way is to get you downstairs, and you look really mad, but you're always so friendly, and I just thought if you understood-"

Cari waved a hand around in an attempt to stop the girl's flood of words. "Okay, I get it. I'll be downstairs in ten minutes." The girl grimaced nervously and avoided Cari's eyes as she sighed. "You can wait out here if you don't want to go down there yet."

The girl smiled gratefully and Cari returned the expression as best she could before closing the door and getting dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and a thin sweatshirt. There was no way she was going to put on her full uniform until she had to.

And so, seven minutes later, Cari headed down the stairs, followed closely by her young shadow. "This better be good," she said by way of greeting, distracting the boys from the girl disappearing through the portrait hole as she made her escape.

"Romana!"

"Looking radiant!"

"Such a treat in the morning, really."

"Yeah, yeah. What do you need?"

"Well…" George drew out, sucking in a breath. "You know how we gave you that potion yesterday?"

"Yes?" Cari agreed questioningly.

"It worked for you?" Fred quizzed.

"It did. I felt almost normal for the rest of the day. Really helped me pass my Transfiguration exam, so thanks."

"That's great!" George grinned.

"But you were the first one to test it other than us and we were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about it," Fred finished.

"You know, research purposes? For what we talked about in Hogsmeade?" George reminded her, eyes pleading.

"Okay, that sounds good," she replied.

"Really?" they asked simultaneously, sounding disbelieving.

"Yeah," Cari confirmed, propping her hip on the back on an armchair. "Like I said, I kind of owe you for getting me through my exam, and I don't have anything going on until Charms this afternoon. What did you need to know?"

"Why don't you sit down?" Fred invited, moving to show that a small selection of pastries had been set out on the coffee table, along with tea, coffee, and a cup that looked like it contained some type of soda.

"What's with all of this?" Cari asked suspiciously.

George shrugged and settled on the floor in front of the table. "You were easier to convince than we thought you would be."

Fred nodded, speaking through the mouthful of muffin he had already helped himself to. "We were sure you would be fighting us on this."

"I mean, you helped me out. And it's just going to be a few questions, right? Nothing crazy?"

"Of course not," George said wounded, pressing a hand to his chest.

"A full year in our company and you still don't trust us?" Fred asked.

"Not one bit," Cari confirmed. "And I think that's the major reason we're friends. How much does Lee trust you?"

"After our first year living together?" George grinned.

"He doesn't anymore," Fred agreed reminiscently.

"Like I said then," Cari sat down and reached for the cup which indeed contained a cold soda. "Go ahead and ask your questions."

* * *

The practical part of the Charms exam had been easier than expected - at least, it had been when Cari remembered to dial back the strength of her charms. Looking back, she wasn't sure why it had taken so long to get her wand calibrated. It had made a huge difference, maybe enough to save her grade in the class. She had been able to enjoy a meal with her friends and House-mates for the first time all week, and had nothing to do after lunch. Her Charms theory exam wasn't until the next morning and everyone else seemed to have something going on, so she simply wandered the grounds in the heavy golden sunlight of the afternoon.

It was nearing four when she ran into Neville near the greenhouses. "Hey, Neville! How did your exams go?"

He flushed a little. "Not terribly, but Herbology was my best. How about you?"

"Well, I'm not done yet, but I don't think they're going too badly. Did you just finish your Herbology exam?" she asked, nodding toward the glass building behind him.

"No, I had it yesterday. Professor Sprout lets me come by and look over the projects the older students are doing. She says I have… a talent for it or something." This last bit was muttered rather hastily and Cari grinned.

"I mean, it's obvious you're good with the plants, Neville. I think you do better in the class than anyone else, including the Hufflepuffs. I think it's cool she has you learning a little extra. You can definitely handle it!"

He went red once more and mumbled out a thank-you, then made his excuses and walked toward Greenhouse 2. He was nearly inside by the time Cari remembered that she had been meaning to ask something. "Neville!" she said loudly, voice carrying over to him. He paused and glanced back at her quizzically. "Have you seen Hermione, Ron, and Harry?"

Neville shook his head. "No, last time I heard, they were rushing off toward Hagrid's."

"Okay, thanks!" Cari called, turning toward Hagrid's after he had stepped into the greenhouse. She had been ambling along for a few minutes, nearly halfway there, when a voice came from behind her.

"Oh, dear. Romana, is it?"

Cari groaned internally, but kept her voice bland as she answered, "Yes, it is."

She would have kept walking, but he continued speaking to her. "I suppose it isn't really such a surprise. One from such an… _undesirable_ line, a murderer as well."

"That reminds me, I have something I've been wanting to say to you," Cari said tartly, turning around to meet Lucius Malfoy's wary but condescendingly-amused gray eyes. "Thank you for sending that article to Draco."

One of his silvery eyebrows flew upward in an expression of disbelief. "Is that so?"

"It is," Cari answered calmly. "It gave me the push I needed to talk to my friends here about what really happened, and they're all so wonderful that they agreed to not only forgive me, but have my back when people tried to get physical. They were incredible before, but now I know our friendship will last forever. I suppose I have you to thank for all of that."

"Indeed," he snarled, voice sour. "Such a pity not all things in your life can turn out so wonderfully. But then, Hagrid is such a witless oaf that he likely won't comprehend the real implications of his pet's eradication."

"What?" she asked, floored. Immediately afterward, Cari lifted her chin in a show of defiance. "Excuse me. I meant, what are you talking about?"

He smirked haughtily. "Why, I assumed you already knew. Hagrid and that horrid hippogriff of his are soon to be parted… as will the beast with his head."

Cari could feel herself blanch. "Well, assuming that's true, it sounds like I have somewhere to be."

She could hear the snort from behind herself. "Assuming? Little girl, I am the one who assured this would happen. Hagrid's beast will lose its miserable life, and that… _giant_ will likely lose his job. Not that he should ever have been considered capable of teaching a class of anyone over the age of two, mind…"

Cari didn't do him the courtesy of stopping once more to speak face-to-face, but she angled her head back over her shoulder to say, "I recognize that we're both walking in the same direction, but would you very much mind waiting here for a moment? I just need a bit of a head start."

"And why is that?" he asked, voice the perfect blend of boredom and displeasure with just a hint of curiosity.

"Obviously, I don't want to spend any more time with you than absolutely necessary," Cari answered, carefully making her own disdain clear. "And I would bet you feel the same."

She had returned to not looking at the elder Malfoy, but Cari could practically feel the sneering that was going on behind her. Before he could say anything truly cutting, however, an obviously-enraged Hermione came walking the opposite direction, followed by an equally angry Harry and Ron - although the hint of awestruck fear on their faces did tone their expressions down a good bit.

Hermione noticed Cari first. "I suppose you've heard what happened?" she asked. "We've just come fr-" Her brown gaze slid behind to where Lucius Malfoy was - presumably - still triumphantly lurking. "You! How dare you? Simply because your delicate _prat_ of a son was too much like you to admit that he was the one at fault-"

"'Mione," Ron said softly.

At the same time, Harry stepped between Hermione and her target (assuming she was planning to do something with the wand suddenly appearing in her clenched fist). "Don't bother, Hermione. He isn't worth it."

"That's the spirit," Lucius Malfoy encouraged in his smoothest, most patronizing tone. "It is just a hippogriff after all. Or am I to presume it is Hagrid himself that is unworthy of your rage?"

With that, Harry seemed just as ready to fight as Hermione was, and Cari looked desperately to Ron. The youngest Weasley boy nodded grimly and they stepped forward - Cari to Hermione and Ron to Harry.

"Come on, Hermione. He's just trying to get you to say or do something so he can try to have you expelled," Cari soothed.

"But he can't get away with this," she hissed, hair fairly crackling at the bushy ends as her eyes remained locked on Draco's dad.

"Of course not," Cari replied, surprised the suggestion was even made. "We just have to think a little more Slytherin about it. Don't worry; I'm not letting this go without a fight." With that, Hermione allowed herself to be led away.

"Who'd have thought?" Ron said, voice too loud in the sudden silence. "Out of the three of us, I was the only one who didn't lose my temper! Bloody miracle, that is." He grinned, but it gave Cari the distinct impression that he was trying to enjoy himself, but couldn't because he kept remembering what was going to happen soon.

"I just- It isn't- It just isn't fair!" Hermione snapped after a few false starts. "We put in the work, we researched cases, we built an actual, logical argument! But they're going to kill Buckbeak anyway because-"

"Because Malfoy went crying to his father about the nasty, scary Hippogriff," Harry finished heavily. "I know, 'Mione, it's not right."

"I agree," Cari added hesitantly, feeling like she was butting in. The three had never been anything but nice to her, but they were still obviously a trio of friends and an outsider rather than a quartet. "Buckbeak doesn't deserve what's going to happen, but there must be a reason. After all, if even Dumbledore couldn't-"

"Dumbledore!" Ron shouted, startling everyone else.

Hermione, unsurprisingly, was the first to catch on to Ron's train of thought. "Ron, that's brilliant! If anyone can overturn a ruling like this, it's him!"

"We have to talk to him, make our case one last time. He'll listen," Harry said decisively. "Come on, he'll be on his way to Hagrid's by now. We'll have to catch him."

"Let's go!" Hermione called, already bounding down the path.

"Yeah! Er- Cari? Did you want to come along?" Harry asked hesitantly. He was too polite not to offer, but Cari knew this was an adventure for the three of them.

"Um, thank you, but I probably should go study. I have my last exam tomorrow." Harry nodded understandingly, but Cari added, "Let me know if there's anything I can do? For Hagrid."

"Of course!" he tossed over his shoulder with a grateful smile, lengthening his strides to catch up with Hermione and Ron.

When they had gone, Cari was left standing rather aimlessly on the path. It led across the grounds, meandering around the lake and skirted the edges of the Forbidden Forest. It was one of her favorite paths in the castle, but not how she wanted to spend time at the moment. Instead, Cari opted to walk a different direction and let herself get lost in thought.

Several hours later, dinner had come and gone. Cari had spoken with her Housemates, comparing exam results and receiving tips about what to focus on for her Charms theory exam the next morning. Of course, it was a little difficult to concentrate with half of her mind noting the continued absence of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Apparently, they hadn't been seen since that afternoon.

Cari went up to the Tower after dinner, spent some time in the common room, and even paged through her Charms textbook, but when Hermione had yet to reappear several hours later, she knew she had to do something. Making a flimsy excuse to Ginny, Cari crept down the stairs and out of the portrait hole without anyone noticing - other than the Lady, of course, and she agreed to keep Cari's secret as long as she came back with some good gossip.

Carefully, ever-wary of Filch or prefects doing rounds, Cari made her way down to the first floor. The idea was to get to the Entrance Hall and at least look out the windows. Along the way, she checked out toward Hagrid's hut, but there was nothing to see in the dying light of the sun.

"Romana? What are you doing?"

Cari bit back a shriek, but the noise seemed to manifest itself in a terrific leap away from the window. She was left slightly breathless, hand pressed to her heart as she glared at the twins. "What are you two doing?"

They exchanged delighted glances and replied simultaneously, "Asked you first!"

"I'm searching for your idiot brother and his friends. Now, why are you here?"

"Hang on. We know our brother's an idiot," Fred started.

"-But you've always told us he isn't," George mused.

"What happened to change your mind?"

"Yeah, what did the little git do now?"

"Nothing," Cari snapped. "He just happens to share your DNA, so I assume he's as stupid as you are. Why are you down here?"

"Followed you," George supplied casually.

" _But why?_ " she snarled.

Fred shrugged. "We're done with our OWLs. No more studying."

"And you didn't have anything better to do than follow me?"

"We didn't really have much of a plan," George admitted.

"Yeah," Fred nodded. "Just felt like we should be out enjoying life tonight."

"After all, exams are over!" George restated cheerfully.

"For you," Cari groused. "I have my last one tomorrow morning."

With that, she returned to gazing out of the window, eyes tracing the now-familiar sight of the Hogwarts grounds. Tonight, the grassy hills and shadowed trees were bathed in the light of the still-setting sun, and she drank in the sight. It wouldn't be long now until she had to leave. She was still looking her fill when she heard it: approaching footsteps, moving quickly. Ignoring their protests, Cari grabbed the arms of both twins and tugged them half-behind the doors to the Great Hall. She shushed them and kept an eye on the grand expanse of the Entrance Hall. Sure enough, Professor Snape billowed up from the dungeons only minutes later, muttering to himself as his face set into a grimly resolved mask. He continued on at a rapid clip, slipping through the large doors of the Entrance Hall when he came to them. The heavy doors glided closed with no noise to warn that someone had left.

Cari stepped from behind the doors, frowning as she moved to a window facing the front of the castle. What would the Professor be doing out on the grounds of Hogwarts at this time of night? It didn't make sense...

"Greasy git," Fred grumbled.

George concurred, "Probably felt a disturbance in the Force when we said we were going to enjoy ourselves and is off to put a stop to it."

Cari edged hesitantly over to the doors. Fred spoke loudly - or at least, more loudly than was prudent at this time of night - from behind her. "Wow, Romana. Would've thought you would catch on to that one."

"Yeah, we watched your precious Star Wars," George added. "Granger gave us a copy of it. Had this cool little clip thing she put on the back of the-"

"I need to find out where he's going..." Cari mused, really only speaking to herself.

"Bloody hell! Romana, are you sure this is you?"

"We're on board!"

"Let's go follow Snape!"

Barely recognizing their words of agreement, Cari slipped through the doors and took off in the same direction as she had seen Snape moving. In only a moment, they had come upon a figure, but not the one they were expecting: Draco Malfoy jumped visibly when he saw them.

"Well, if it isn't the Weasels, accompanying the Mongrel for a midnight stroll. Tell me, does one of you watch while the other-?"

He cut off abruptly as Cari held her wand directed at his face from only inches away. He looked abjectly terrified, but Cari kept her voice pleasant. "Malfoy. We just want to know who or what you've seen tonight."

"Go jump in the Black Lake, Mongrel," he spat out.

Cari sighed. "What was that new curse I read about?" she asked out loud. "I've been trying to remember; it was a very nice one. Disfigures the face, you see, only very slowly. You'll be normal for a few hours, but you'll begin growing more and more horrifying to look at - even more than you are right now. In a few years, you'll be a black mark on the Malfoy family tree. An embarrassment. Just have to remember the right incantation..."

"Fine!" he hissed. "I'll tell you, but only because I know it'll kill those two." After jerking his chin toward Fred and George, Malfoy took a deep breath and said slowly and relishingly, "Weasley got taken by a black dog, dragged right under the Whomping Willow. The mutt was probably trained to help Sirius Black." He chuckled darkly. "Black's likely to kill that red-headed moron, but it's no concern of mine..."

Calmly, Cari cast a Stupefy and levitated the blonde Slytherin just inside the doors. Once he was there, she revived him, but only through a slight crack in the doors. "What was the point of that?" Fred asked, still seeming less-than-thrilled about Malfoy's barrage of insults toward them all.

"Well, he doesn't know how much time has passed, that's a plus," Cari explained. "Besides, now he doesn't know if we believed him or if we just left for the common room."

"And do we believe him?" George asked.

Cari felt her expression set into one of determination. "Unfortunately, we do. Ron, Harry, and Hermione have all been acting very strangely lately. I don't like it. They could be up to anything. We better head over to the Willow now." With that, she turned and bounded down the stone steps of the castle, making a sharp turn toward the ancient, violent tree.

"Miss Romana! Mr Weasley...s! What are you doing out here? It's dangerous!"

Cari wheeled around to find a flustered Professor Lupin striding toward them, looking even more tense and rumpled than usual, though she rarely saw him outside of class anymore. After she had hit a plateau with her Patronus - seeming unable to graduate beyond a wispy shadow shape of some four-legged creature - they had decided it would be best to leave it alone for a while. Cari continued to practice on her own time, but she did miss the insight that they professor had often provided.

"Is everyone out tonight?" she heard Fred mutter, but ignored him for more pressing matters.

"Professor! There's a situation at the Whomping Willow! Ron-"

"Yes, Miss Romana, I am aware," Professor Lupin said tersely. His face seemed drawn and grayish, even in the dim light filtering through the thick cloud barrier that had drawn across the sky.

"But Sirius Black might-"

"No, he isn't going to kill young Mr. Weasley." Cari gaped and the Defense professor winced, seeming to pick up on his slip. He sighed, passing a hand over his face. "Very well. You're all intelligent enough to see through any story I try to give you and impulsive enough to barge in there after Sirius Black. Yes, he is in the Shrieking Shack. But he's not who everyone believes him to be. He's looking for someone from our past."

"Our?" George asked.

"Yes, our. We were in school together. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and I were the Gryffindor boys of our year." He cut off their further questions with a sharp gesture. "I apologize, but time is of the essence. Sirius was wrongly convicted. I know I cannot give you the explanation - much less the evidence - that you deserve at the moment, but I must be going. Just- stay here. Everyone should remain in the castle."

"Tell that to Snape," Fred said with a snort. "He went for the Whomping Willow a quarter hour ago."

"Severus went-" Lupin cut off with a look of horror. "I must go. Stay inside!"

Cari watched him begin jogging toward the tree, but something niggled at her mind. "Professor! Don't hurt the dog!"

At her shout, Professor Lupin had turned back with an impatient expression on his face, but it turned to one of bewilderment at her request. "Dog?"

"Yeah, the big black dog that Sirius Black has with him! He's been around all year. We're kind of friends."

One corner of Professor Lupin's mouth quirked up. "Rest assured, Miss Romana. I will not harm the dog."

With that, Professor Lupin disappeared from sight, leaving Cari and the twins to stare after him.

* * *

Author's Note \- So, that was a ridiculously long chapter. What a welcome back, huh? Now, before anyone gets too cranky with me, let me explain that I was trying to finish up the end of the _Prisoner of Azkaban_ arc before I started publishing these. There are only a few more chapters in said arc, and they'll be published over the next week or so. Also, I'm trying something new, so if you review (please?) I'll respond in a private message and include the date of the next chapter release. Of course, if you want to be surprised, I won't include the date, just let me know.

Also, in case anyone notices that the timing seems off with characters talking about curfew and sunset, it's intentional. The research I've done says that sunset in Scotland in early June wouldn't happen until ten pm or so. Curfew is likely earlier than that, so sunset would be taking place after the students are supposed to be in bed. I know, it surprised me, too.

In summary, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it was a monster, but brace yourselves: the next one is almost the same length at this point. Thanks for reading, drop a review if you're enjoying the story so far, and I'll see you all in a little while. Have a great day!


	83. Patronus

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, settings, plot, etc. These are the property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros, and any related publishing or distribution companies. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make me no money.

* * *

Patronus

"Bloody hell," Fred muttered.

"Sirius Black and Lupin?" George asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Too weird," Fred agreed. "I need some time to think it over."

"Yeah, do something else while it sinks in."

"Kitchens?"

"Kitchens. Come on, Romana!"

Despite her protests, Cari was forced from her spot by the window and dragged to the kitchens with the twins. It was business as usual there, some elves clearing up things from dinner while others readied ingredients for the next morning's breakfast. After conversing with one of the elves for a few minutes, George managed to earn a plateful of cakes, which he and Fred dove into eagerly. Cari, still full from dinner, spent her time mulling over the events of the evening instead.

"Why did Professor Lupin laugh about the dog thing?" she asked rhetorically, chin propped on her fists. "I mean, it was a weird request, but that doesn't mean anything… But how could Black get a dog to work with him? That would take years of animal training and he's only been out of Azkaban for... what, a few months?"

Shockingly, Fred swallowed his mouthful of dessert and contributed something to her thought process. "It's not that much of a stretch, though, is it? Some wizards can sort of communicate with animals."

"Wait, they can?" Cari asked.

George nodded. "In certain cases. Usually, they're Animagi and they have such a strong connection with the animal they turn into that they can communicate with that natural animal, even when the wizard is in human form. Haven't you ever seen Mrs. Norris around Professor McGonagall?"

Cari thought back. "No, I haven't."

"There's a reason for that," Fred said sagely. "Mrs. Norris avoids McGonagall whenever possible and, when they're forced to be close, she gets her back up."

Chuckling, George added, "One look from Minnie usually shuts her right up, though."

"Anyway, could be something like that," Fred summed up.

"Are you saying Black is an Animagus?" Cari asked skeptically.

"Could be, but he would've had to have started really young," George mused. "I mean, he went to Azkaban after he'd only been out of Hogwarts a little while, and there's no way he could have learned there. He wouldn't have had the materials."

"But I'm sure someone would have caught on if he did it here," Fred pointed out. "After all, a bloke can't get any privacy in this castle. I'm sure someone would have noticed if some guy kept turning into a dog."

"But what if someone did notice?" Cari conjectured. "I mean, Lupin had to have known."

"I don't know, Romana," George said. "Black just got out of a twelve-year stay in Azkaban. He probably wouldn't be strong enough to get a dog to work with him that closely, especially after the power he had to have used to break out."

"I think we might be looking at this the wrong way," Cari argued. "What if Black isn't working with the dog after all? What if he is the dog?"

The question floated out into the suddenly-silent corner where the three of them were sitting, the implications ringing through the air. "You're saying… You think that Black has been hanging around the castle the whole time?" Fred asked, voice a little higher-pitched than normal.

"Every time I saw him, it was around the same time as a break-in," she trailed.

"But if he was around the castle for that much time when no one knew about him, why didn't he hurt anyone?" George asked shakily.

Cari fought to keep her own voice solid. "Well, that backs up what Lupin was saying about him not wanting to hurt Harry. If he's really just trying to find whoever from his past, he wouldn't be planning to hurt anyone."

Fred dragged a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. "So this person from his past is, what, hiding somewhere inside of Hogwarts?"

"I'm not sure," Cari confessed. Catching Tricks's eyes from across the room, a memory flashed back. "-But I think I have an idea on how to confirm his identity."

She stood and began walking purposefully across the kitchens. Tricks - keenly observant as always - paused to watch her in curiosity. "Does Miss needs something?"

"Tricks, you were talking about a dog with a spot on his back leg. You said he looked like the dog I brought in here with me. Do you know when that first dog was around? How long ago?"

Tricks frowned, obviously racking her memories. "I don't think its could be the same dog, Miss. I didn't see the old one since… nearly fifteens years ago."

"Fifteen years…" Cari repeated, doing a bit of mental math. That would put the dog here a reasonable time ago, but she wasn't sure about the years… "Tricks, do you happen to remember any of the students who were here when you saw the dog around? Maybe James Potter or Remus Lupin?"

Tricks's eyes - impossibly - seemed to brighten. "Oh, yes!" she squeaked. "They was here at the same times. Such nice boys… Them, Peter and even Sirius Black. They was trouble, but they was always nice to the elves. Such nice boys…"

"Thank you so much, Tricks! That helps me so much." She whirled around excitedly, almost running into the twins who had followed without her notice. "It's him! The black dog, he is Sirius Black."

"So what do we do?" Fred asked.

"We follow them," Cari answered firmly, striding out of the kitchens before anyone could try to stop her.

"How do you expect to find them?" George asked, rushing slightly to catch up with Cari. "They won't be in the Shack still."

"I'm not sure, but I would be willing to bet that everyone is still outside," Cari replied. "The house elves would have heard something by now if they had gotten back to the castle."

"So you're - what? Going to run around outside until you find them?" Fred sounded dismayed by this idea. "The sun has gone down by now."

"The Weasley twins, afraid of the dark?" Cari asked in disbelief. "Never thought I would see the day. I guess it doesn't matter much, though. You guys don't have to come with me."

"Come on, Romana," George scoffed. "Of course we're coming with you."

"As if we would let you go by yourself," Fred sniffed, shooting her a grin that confirmed that he was parroting her words from their adventures on the last Halloween. "Where do you want to start?"

"Well-"

"Missy! Missy and twins! Wait!"

Cari turned, surprised by the little voice calling them back. "Ayu? What is it?"

"You can't go!" the elf puffed out, obviously out of breath from chasing them down the long hall coming from the kitchens. "Sirius Black is captured and Dumblydoor has called the Demptors. They's gonna come kiss him."

"Told you the elves would know," Cari shot over her shoulder to the twins. "Well, if Professor Lupin was telling the truth, Sirius Black is innocent. I can't stand around and let an innocent man be executed. Ayu, do you know of any back way into where they're keeping him?"

"Sorry, Miss. They is keeping him in Flitwick's office. It's too small. There's no second ways in."

Cari puffed out a breath. "I need to go think about this. Thanks, Ayu, for letting us know."

"Wait, Miss!" Cari turned and the elf hesitated, but said, "Stay in the castle. There is werewolves out tonights."

She nodded. "Thanks again, Ayu. We'll be careful."

After the diminutive shape had disappeared back into the kitchens, Cari continued back on her previous path. "Cari!" Fred exclaimed.

"Did you not hear him?" George asked, sounding aggrieved.

"Werewolves, Romana. Actual werewolves," Fred insisted.

George shook his head. "They're nothing you want to mess with."

"I'm not going to _mess with_ a werewolf," Cari argued. "I'm going to be outside, minding my own business, while they're outside, minding their own business."

Fred huffed out an exasperated breath. "Werewolves don't mind their own business."

"Yeah, they actually are a bit aggressive in minding _other people's_ business," George added.

"Moot point anyway," Fred said. "Nothing is going on out there anymore. If Black is captured, all of the action is going to be inside of the castle."

Cari pulled up short, realizing he was right. Avoiding the twins' quizzical gazes, she muttered, "You could've led with that argument." Matching grins broke across their faces but Cari continued speaking. "In any case, we've still got to hurry. If the Dementors are going to come Kiss Sirius Black, that means people from the Ministry are going to start coming and we're out of bed after curfew. A lot after curfew."

Rather than waste time answering her, the twins hurried off, leaving Cari to follow in their wake. When they got back to the main level of the castle, however, they had to pull back toward the Entrance Hall in order to avoid a patrolling pair of Prefects.

"Can't believe they finally got him," one girl - Cari vaguely recognized her as, Katherine Prennet, a fifth-year Hufflepuff - said.

"Yeah, Potter will be relieved," agreed her partner, a sixth-year Slytherin named Trifton Throst. "No more watching his back all the time."

Katherine snorted at her Slytherin partner. "Please. That boy has so much to worry about, it's a wonder he isn't in a constant state of mental breakdown."

Trifton chuckled appreciatively. "Fair enough. But he can check Black off the list, and as soon as Weasley gets out of the Hospital Wing, he should be good. Until next year, that is." Katherine shot him a look and he raised his hands innocently. "Not that I'm planning anything! I just know Potter will have to do something incredible so they can beat us for the House Cup. Again."

"No kidding," she sighed. "At least you can remember a time when your House won something."

Trifton elbowed her playfully. "Come on, Prenston, cheer up! After all, if there are going to be Dementors here soon, you'll need to be happy as long as possible before."

She said something back to him, but the sound was lost as they disappeared around a corner toward the staircases.

"Well," Fred started, breaking the silence, "At least we know Ickle Ronniekins is safe."

He did his best to play it off, but Cari could hear the hint of relief in his tone, mirrored by George as he agreed, "Yeah, now we don't have to waste time worrying about him all night."

Cari would have teased them about their sudden turnaround where Ron was concerned, but she honestly thought their little hints of caring for their younger brother shouldn't be discouraged. "Okay," she agreed blandly. "Do you want to head back to the common room now?"

"Probably should," George admitted. "Especially if you've got an exam tomorrow morning-"

"Hang on," Fred interjected suddenly, peeking from one of the windows. " Someone is walking outside. There shouldn't be anything going on out there. Black is in here now." He turned to make uncertain eye contact with both of the others. "Isn't he?"

"As far as I know…" Cari said uncertainly. "Maybe we should go out and see what's going on?"

"Definitely," they replied in unison.

Cari pushed the door open and edged her way into the recently-darkened outdoors. There was a bit of a breeze, but the night was calm, quiet, and warm. There was a full moon sailing through the velvet night sky, but it was obscured occasionally by wispy clouds passing in front of it. The grounds were shadowed as they walked along, forcing Cari to move a bit more slowly than she would have liked in order to keep from twisting an ankle or some such thing. There was more than enough light, however, for her to watch in horror as Malfoy kicked off with his trademark Nimbus 2001 and soared upward.

"Bloody hell," George swore. "That's Malfoy up there."

"Lovely," Cari groaned. "What does he think he's doing?"

"I can't be certain, but if it's anything to do with that, we're in serious trouble," Fred muttered, pointing toward the upper levels of the castle.

Cari's gaze followed the direction of his finger and her jaw dropped. There was a hippogriff up there - Buckbeak, if she wasn't mistaken - and on his back were two students: unmistakably Harry and Hermione. "I thought the Ministry killed him..?" she trailed.

"Hagrid was all broken up about it this afternoon," George confirmed. "Wonder what happened? Did they decide not to?"

"No, they can't have," Cari argued. "I talked to Lucius Malfoy about it and he was bragging that Buckbeak would be dead before the end of the day."

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" Fred asked. "The important thing is that Malfoy is up there trying to cause trouble and that hippogriff already doesn't like him."

"If he panics, Harry and Hermione could get hurt," George agreed. "We have to stop Malfoy."

Cari glanced around. "Well, you're both on the Quidditch team. Maybe one of you could go get your brooms so you can fly up there and bring him down."

"One problem: our brooms are locked in the broom shed."

"What?" Cari asked, horrified. "You don't have access to your own brooms?"

George had the grace to look embarrassed. "We used them for pranking purposes."

"The Snape thing, remember?" Fred added helpfully.

Cari groaned. "What should we do? Is there a way to break into the shed? That's kind of my thing."

George shook his head. "It's not just an _alohamora._ Only Hooch, McGonagall, and Dumbledore know the actual spell to get into it."

"Trust us, we've tried," Fred affirmed.

"What about someone else's broom?" Cari suggested, eyes still trained on the pair riding the hippogriff.

"Over time, Wood got most of the team to put their brooms in the shed so they couldn't be 'tampered with'," George shut down. "The only one we know who keeps their broom somewhere else is Harry."

"We could try getting his," Fred started, talking more to his twin than Cari now, but she didn't mind. There was another possibility floating around through her mind, but it would take some courage to get the plan moving.

As the twins began to debate their odds of getting up to the boys' dorms, finding Harry's broom, and leaving without attracting too much suspicion, Cari put a hand into her pocket and touched the handle of the broom - the handle she had carved so carefully over a year before. She swore softly, cutting off the twins.

"I really didn't want to do this, but lives are at stake." They looked at her with matching quizzical expressions and she pulled the broom from her pocket, muttering the counter charm to return it to full-size. "This will have to do."

"Wicked," they said in unison.

Fred held out a hand. "Pass it to me and I'll go do my best to stop Malfoy."

"No!" she burst, then shook her head at herself. "I can't let either of you anywhere near this broom. I need to be the one who does this."

"Cari," George said softly. "No offense, but you haven't flown all year. We don't even know if you _can_ fly. We're on the Quidditch team, let us handle it."

He made a grab at the broom, but Cari pulled it back out of reach. She smiled a little as she straddled it, ready to kick off. "And I was a Quidditch referee, a Broomsmith student, and the sole creator of this broom." She stroked a hand down the handle, relearning the bumps and whorls in the wood "This is the one that killed my best friend," she said softly.

"Definitely not!" Fred snapped, just as George locked her arm in an iron grip. "You can't take a risk like this, Cari. We'll find another way."

Cari obligingly dismounted and held up the broom, but when the Weasleys turned away, she merely flipped it over and added the missing rune in a rough patch job. The rune seemed to complete some kind of a circuit in the already-powerful broom, and the resulting wave of magic was enough to send a rush of energy up her arm. In half a second, she had mounted the broom again and kicked off.

Despite the serious nature of the situation, Cari couldn't keep a laugh from bubbling out of her as she soared up and over the Quidditch pitch. Flying again was such a rush! Her stomach dropped as the earth fell away and the wind in her face felt cool from the speed it was moving. Shoving off the slight bout of nerves from doing this for the first time in more than a year, Cari pulled the broom into a sharp peak and searched around until she found Malfoy. He was hovering fairly close to her, staring over at Buckbeak rather than in her direction. He hadn't even noticed her taking off.

She zoomed off in his direction, but he in turn was flying rapidly toward the hippogriff. Cari thought it was in a bid to look more closely at what was going on, but her jaw dropped when she realized what was actually going on: Buckbeak was outside of the Charms classroom, in front of the section of windows making up Professor Flitwick's office, and a figure was climbing out through an opening to join the pair on Buckbeak's back.

Malfoy reeled backward, and only her quick reflexes kept Cari from colliding with him. "Sirius Black!" he shouted. "Sirius Black! They're helping Black escape! Help! HELP!"

Cari knew she could chase Malfoy down - if there was one benefit to being smaller, lighter, and riding a much newer broom, it was a fast flight time - but she didn't want to give him more opportunity to attract attention than he already had. " _Accio_ Nimbus 2001," she hissed, gripping her wand just as tightly as she did her broom.

To Malfoy's obvious shock, he found himself being towed forcibly to the side, broom obediently soaring over to Cari. He shouted the entire way, but as soon as the summoning charm was complete, Cari muttered an additional, " _Silencio_ ," rendering him mercifully quiet. With that taken care of, she disabled all of the speed runes on his broom, as well as the hovering charm. With no ability to move forward or stay in place, the Nimbus 2001 began to drift slowly toward the ground. Cari followed the whole way, trying to fight back a strange twinge of pity at Malfoy's gaping mouth and rolling eyes. The boy was obviously terrified, but no words of comfort would sink in, let alone be believed, so she simply remained silent.

When they reached the ground, they were met by the twins. Fred snatched Malfoy's broom away as George held him at wandpoint. "He can't make any more noise," Cari explained.

"Shut up, Romana," Fred ordered brusquely.

"We're not ready to deal with you yet," George growled.

With the Nimbus 2001 lying on the ground behind them, Fred pointed his wand at Malfoy as well. "Do you want to do the honors, Georgie, or should I?"

"Why don't you?" George suggested. "I've always been better at the second part, anyway."

"Agreed," Fred said. With a strange coldness flaring in his eyes, he pointed his wand at a sharper angle and said commandingly, " _Obliviate._ "

Malfoy's eyes glazed over and George, voice almost gentle, added, " _Stupefy_."

With that, the third-year slumped over onto the ground, appearing to be either in a dead faint or a deep sleep. "So..." Cari said slowly in the silence. "That was a bit of a routine for you guys, huh?"

The last syllable had scarcely left her mouth before she was snatched up into a tight hug. "What the bloody hell did you think you were doing?" Fred began, voice lecturing even as he gave her another squeeze.

"Just casually throw out that this broom has killed people, then you just fly off and leave us stranded, hoping you don't come crashing back down again?" George asked shrilly, holding onto her once his brother had let go.

"I'm sorry," Cari apologized slowly, disentangling herself from them both. "I wasn't trying to be a hero, it just needed to be done. But did you see what Harry and Hermione did?"

"We'll deal with them after we're done talking about you, Romana!" George admonished sternly.

"Going to give us gray hair, you are!" Fred added, but stopped abruptly with a groan. "We sound like Mum."

"I- I think we have bigger problems, Fred," George stammered, sounding a bit strangled.

Cari turned to look where his wide-eyed gaze had gone and felt herself go as pale as both boys had. There was a large crowd of dementors approaching. There looked to be at least fifty, probably more. "We aren't Sirius Black," she said weakly. "We should be safe from them, right?"

"I don't know that I want to stay here and find out for sure," Fred muttered.

George tugged at her arm. "Cari, can you fix Malfoy's broom? Maybe we could fly away. Two of us on one broom while the other takes Malfoy."

Cari shook her head. "With them around, I don't think I'm strong enough to summon a firefly, let alone fix something as delicate and important as flight runes. Besides, I think dementors can fly." All the energy went out of her and she lowered slowly to join Malfoy on the ground. "I don't know what to do."

Fred and George glanced at each other bleakly and slouched to the grass as well. "I hope they kill us," George said slowly. "I don't want to be Kissed into a lifeless husk."

"If they don't finish the job, Mum probably would," Fred joked humorlessly.

Cari wanted to smile at the quip, but it felt like her facial muscles weighed a thousand pounds. No one at Echowick would be sad to hear about what had happened to her. Her father may not, either. And who knows what kind of story he had concocted for Mom and Byron? No, Cari wouldn't be mourned, unlike the twins. Certainly nothing like Shadow had been. _At least I might get to see Shadow again_ , she thought absently, watching the dementors. They were close enough that she could watch as the ripped fabric of their robes rippled in the breeze from the lake.

As if thinking his name brought back all of her old memories of their time together, Cari's mind pulled up images of Shadow. His face the first time he introduced himself, they way he would smile at anything, how he loved torturing them with architecture tidbits... Her thoughts flooded with a million small gestures and half-forgotten moments. Her hand warmed and she reached out unconsciously for the broom. It was only inches away, but it felt like an eternity before her fingers made contact with the smooth rowan wood.

An electric thrill shot up her arm from the broom, shocking her out of the fog that had settled over her senses. Suddenly-energized, Cari shot to her feet. With every second of laughing, happy Shadow she could dredge up from her memory, she extended her wand - broom still held in her non-dominant left hand - and shouted, " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

She had thrown the charm out with every ounce of her being, expecting to see at least a hint of the shadowy cloud she usually produced, hoping it would be enough to keep the dementors at bay until someone could come to help them. However, she hadn't factored in the new strength of her calibrated wand. A gigantic silvery shape erupted from the end of her wand, charging wildly at the black-cloaked group of creatures again and again until they had completely disappeared from the area. When it stood docilely still, staring up at Cari with darkly-soulful silver eyes, she couldn't help an amazed little chuckle.

"Blimey!" George exclaimed from behind her. "What is that thing?"

"It's a bison," Cari said softly. It was a tad ridiculous, speaking quietly so she wouldn't frighten the enormous beast that had just done its best to gore dozens of dementors, but it looked so sweet. Reaching out slowly, Cari patted its wide nose. "Thank you," she murmured. The bison nuzzled gently into her palm before disappearing into quickly-fading wisps of silver.

"That was incredible, Romana!" Fred cheered only somewhat mutedly.

After the rush she had gotten from casting and being around her Patronus, Cari felt fine, but could see that both of the boys were exhausted. "Come on, let's get Malfoy back to the school. What are we going to tell anyone who asks about him?"

George shrugged. "We found him crumpled on the floor of the Entrance Hall, of course."

"Yeah, past that, we have no idea," Fred added lightly.

Cari chuckled. "Give me a second to fix the runes on his broom, then we can fly back up to the castle instead of walking."

"Brilliant!" both twins responded, voices fervent in the shared desire not to make the long trek on foot.

All the power buzzing through Cari made fixing Malfoy's broom incredibly easy and she volunteered to bring the unconscious boy back with her, but the twins refused flatly.

"You see, Romana," Fred confided with a gleam in his whiskey-colored eyes, "We have some goals for this trip."

"Yeah, Freddie has always wanted to fly a Nimbus 2001," George said, voice lightly teasing.

"And Georgie-boy has been wanting to give this broom of yours a test fly since you told us about it," Fred grinned.

Cari gaped at George accusingly. "I told you that I made a broom that killed someone and you decided you wanted to try it? Seriously?"

George held his hands up innocently. "Not exactly! I just said it was a good idea and I thought it would be cool to fly a broom that was made by someone I know! Especially someone as smart and trustworthy as you."

"I know what you're doing, you know," Cari grumbled, fighting to keep a smile from her face.

"But it's working anyway, isn't it?" he smirked.

Cari mock-pushed him and he stumbled back obligingly. "Fine. I'll help Fred lash Malfoy to the Nimbus, then I'll ride with you." Both twins opened their mouths, already wearing argumentative faces, but Cari cut them off immediately. "Don't even go there. It'll happen like I said or we can all walk back to the castle. I don't care either way."

In the end, they agreed with her and made their careful way back to the doors of the Entrance Hall. Cari had forgotten just how much she hated riding tandem on a broom when she wasn't the one flying, but George's laughing and exclamations made it not as horrible as she had envisioned. When they reached Hogwarts and dismounted, George kept bragging to his twin about how smooth the flight had been, how much power it obviously had, and how easy it was to maneuver. He was buttering her up, but the compliments and Fred's claims of self-hatred for choosing to fly the wrong broom still made her smile.

They opened the doors as silently as they could, and Cari went to take Malfoy's broom, but was shooed away by Fred. "We'll take care of this prat," he said, hoisting Malfoy's arm up over his shoulder. "You go back to the Tower."

"Don't want you in trouble," George agreed. "Besides, you have a Charms exam in a few hours, yeah?"

Cari had been ready to argue, but the words died as she caught sight of one of the nearby clocks. It was somewhere between extremely late and extraordinarily early, and she really did have to be awake for her Charms exam in only a few short hours. "Fine, but if either of you get into trouble, make sure to tell them that I was part of it."

George snorted. "Like we're going to send you back to Echowick with a black mark on your record."

Cari grinned. "If only that would be the worst of my problems." The twins grew uncharacteristically serious but Cari waved at them. "Goodnight, then. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Definitely!"

* * *

Author's Note \- I know the action in this chapter was wrapped up fairly quickly, but if one wasn't traveling with Harry and Hermione, there would have been very little else going on during the PoA climax night. Also, I'm sorry, I got to see an American Bison recently in-person and I thought they were ridiculously cute, but able to viciously attack if needed. I'd be interested to see how anyone feels about their use as a Patronus. Or how you feel about Cari finally flying again! I'll admit that I loved writing that particular scene. Loved her little bit of happiness in the middle of a tense situation!

There are still two more chapters in this arc, the next of which will likely be posted in the next couple of days. If you want an exact date, simply leave a review and I'll PM you with the expected release date. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!


	84. End Of Year Four

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make me no money.

* * *

End Of Year Four

It took half a miracle, five minutes of Hermione lecturing, and about three screeches from Ginny, but at 8 o'clock the next morning, Cari found herself upright and semi-ready to take her Charms Theory exam. It took her until 9:30, far longer than most of her classmates, but she finished the exam before the deadline and that was all that mattered. When she finally handed her paper to Professor Flitwick, Cari seriously considered going straight back to the dorms, but decided to stop in for something from the Great Hall. She was starving, after all, and she didn't have to stay long.

When she got into the Great Hall, Cari realized her mistake: it was a Hogsmeade day, so most of the school seemed to be crammed in the cavernous room, talking thunderously as they ate, each student trying to outdo the others in finishing their breakfast so they could leave. Amid the babbling, Cari heard that Ron was expected to be released from the Hospital Wing in a few hours, Draco Malfoy had been found unconscious on the floor of the Entrance Hall the night before and his father was _extremely_ displeased, and nearly twenty different people told her a series of wildly variating tales about how exactly Sirius Black had escaped from under the nose of a dozen school and Ministry officials. Cari sat through each of these patiently, but as soon as she finished the pastry she had been working on, she made a subtle-but-rapid escape toward the Gryffindor common room.

On the way - which happened to use several of the passages she had discovered with Fred and George - Cari passed by the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Glancing in through the open door, she saw Professor Lupin inside, busily packing away an assortment of gadgets and creature care supplies. Despite her burning eyes, Cari stopped to tap lightly on the door.

The professor didn't jump or turn quickly or otherwise act as though he had been startled by her, though he did pause to shoot a half smile over his shoulder. The dark circles under his eyes and the gauntness of his cheeks did dampen the effect a little, but Cari did her best to ignore that. "Packing up for the summer?" she asked.

He smiled a little. "Something like that. Have you finished with your exams?"

"Just took the last one this morning. Charms theory, so it wasn't too bad."

"That's nice," Professor Lupin responded absently. "It's always nice to be done for the year."

Cari hummed a little in agreement. To save them both from more awkward small talk, she said, "I managed to cast a Patronus last night. It was fully-formed and everything." He straightened up at that, turning to look at her with eyebrows raised. Cari shrugged. "I just wanted to say thank you. Obviously, I couldn't have done it if you hadn't been so patient and willing to work with me."

"Last night? In your dorm, I assume?"

She chuckled. "Not exactly."

He looked a little sick- well, even more so than he had over their conversation so far. "Miss Romana, you weren't outside last night, were you? I thought I warned you..."

"Well, yeah, but only because we were helping Harry and Hermione. Malfoy was trying to catch them, so we went out to... Professor, are you all right?"

Professor Lupin's face had turned completely gray as he lowered himself into his worn desk chair. "We?"

"Yeah, Fred, George, and I. What's wrong? I know we broke the rules, but it was for a good cause."

"I was... There were dangerous things on the castle grounds last night. It wasn't safe."

"I know, that's why I had to cast the Patronus," Cari replied, wondering if she sounded as stupid as she felt. Abruptly, she remembered Ayu's warning. "Oh, wait! Do you mean the werewolves?"

Lupin made a strangled noise. "I'm fairly certain there was only one."

Cari shrugged. "We never saw any werewolf. Just a ton of dementors." The professor nodded and Cari noted with worry that the lines around his mouth had deepened. "Well, if you're sure you're okay, I'll leave you to your packing. I just wanted to say thank you."

She was almost to the door by the time he spoke again. "What was it?" She half-turned and he gave her a mildly curious look. "Your Patronus, I mean. I remember you were very curious about what it would turn out to be."

"A bison," she replied, grinning with the memory.

Professor Lupin blinked at her for a moment before one corner of his mouth rose. "Naturally."

"Yeah, I was a little surprised, but it was pretty cool," she said, feeling like she was missing the other half of the conversation. "Anyway, I'll see you later, Professor Lupin."

Something like sadness passed over his tired face, but he gave a weak smile that radiated warmth anyway. "I certainly hope so, Miss Romana."

As she walked away, Cari thought to herself that the professor had sounded a little strange, but chalked it up to her impending departure from Hogwarts making her overly-sensitive. With that looming in her mind, Cari spent the rest of her walk to the common room making a special effort to appreciate Hogwarts and its unique architecture.

After nodding a tired greeting to the Lady, Cari entered the common room and made a beeline for the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Before she could get there, however, she was stopped by an overly-chipper pair of voices from the couch.

"Well, if it isn't Romana!"

"Hope the Charms exam went well!"

"Weren't you going to ask how things went last night?"

"Did you get any sleep at all?"

"No, I didn't," she responded to the last question, voice a little snappish. "I hardly slept at all and I'm exhausted, so I intend to go sleep for the rest of the day."

"The rest-"

"-of the day?"

Both boys sounded utterly horrified, but Cari nodded. "I feel like I'm going to pass out standing up, so a nap is probably the best option."

"But it's a Hogsmeade day!"

"You can sleep tomorrow!"

"Or next week!"

"Or when you get home!"

"Or when you're stuck back at that ridiculous American school!"

"Or..."

The simultaneous speech always made Cari skeptical and she frowned at them. George held up a bright violet potion as Fred made a _viola!_ gesture.

"You could just take this potion!"

"Is that the energy one?" she asked warily.

"Of course," Fred said easily.

"But it's a different color than last time."

"No it isn't," George argued as he began studying the liquid in the vial.

"Yes it is. It's still purple, but it's brighter now. What is that about?"

"Oh, we tweaked the recipe slightly," Fred explained.

"To do what?" Cari asked, somewhat gratified that her suspicions had panned out.

"Taste better, of course," George exclaimed. "That was your one complaint, remember?"

"Come on, Romana, where's your Gryffindor courage?" Fred asked. "This was specially made with you in mind."

Cari accepted the vial when they handed it to her, but stared at the potion rather than drink it. It was dicey, especially with some of the pranks she had heard about the twins playing in the past.

"Are you seriously going to miss the last trip to Hogsmeade?" George quizzed with a frown.

"Especially since you've only gotten to go once through the entire year?" Fred added on.

"Fine," Cari agreed with a sigh, downing the liquid as she expected the worst. Certainly, it was the only thing that saved her as she coughed and sputtered when the violet potion hit her tongue. "I thought you said you improved the flavor? What _was_ that?"

Fred scowled at the empty vial. "It was supposed to taste like that soda you like so much."

"Yeah, we couldn't get the flavor quite right," George agreed, sounding disappointed.

Cari chuckled, in a much better mood now that the potion was taking effect. "Thank you guys, no hard feelings. That's a difficult taste to get right. You really didn't do too badly."

"Really?" George asked, seeming to perk up a little.

"Yeah, really. Maybe use less pepper next time, okay? Or none. That would probably be good."

"Then how are we going to get that spicy taste?" Fred wondered.

Cari fought back a grin, knowing it would likely hurt their feelings. "If I get the chance, I'll have to explain to you the difference between 'pepper' and 'carbonation'. That's probably where you went wrong." They looked mystified, so Cari just gave up. "Give me a minute or two to change and we can leave for Hogsmeade."

* * *

It had been a whirlwind of a day in the wizarding village, but returning to the news of Professor Lupin's resignation had put a bit of a damper on the evening. Of course, the fuss the twins put up at Ron's return to the non-Hospital Wing part of the castle had gone a long way toward putting smiles on everyone's faces.

"What are they going to do about Defense classes now?" Cari had asked in the common room that night.

"Nothing," Ginny answered, looking confused. "We're nearly done the year, so we don't do much with classes for the next week."

"Wait, what?" Cari asked, fascinated. "What do you do for the rest of the time, then?"

"Well," Hermione started, sounding as though she were preparing to launch into a thorough explanation. "You need to return any books you've borrowed from the library, turn in any extra-credit or last-minute assignments to the professors, finish up any detention or extra work you were assigned, and pack of course, then you can help tidy up the common rooms or classrooms for extra House points. Oh! And there's always-"

"'Mione," Ron sighed from the comfort of his armchair, sounding very put-upon for someone who had nothing to do for the next week, followed by two full months of nothing. "Not everyone's as mental as you when it comes to school."

"It's a lot of chess tournaments, Quidditch matches just for fun, Exploding Snap by the lake..." Harry trailed, looking as though he were daydreaming already. "Best week of the year, really."

"He's right," Neville chimed in. "Whatever you want to do, now's the time. I always help Professor Sprout get the plants ready for the summer. We write out lists of how to care for each one, so that the summer caretaker for the greenhouses knows exactly what to do."

Cari, for her part, spent most of the week exploring the castle and grounds as thoroughly as she wanted. Sometimes, she was joined by Harry and his Map. Other times, she was with the twins, who basically had memorized the entire layout of Hogwarts. Still, there were times when she walked by herself, strolling through halls and corridors, hidden passageways and moving staircases, all at her own pace. She liked those times just as much as the others. Those were the moments in which she could almost hear Shadow's gleeful laughter as he took in the architecture of the glorious old castle.

Against everything the twins tried to tell her, Cari took some fish out to the lake one day. Sure enough, the Giant Squid had risen to the surface, prodded at the fillet with the tip of one drifting tentacle, and gobbled the fish up so eagerly that they had seen the giant beak of its mouth. Everyone in the surrounding area had been horrified, and the twins had made Cari promise never to do anything like that again. Feeling a bit like she had narrowly avoided a Captain Jack Sparrow moment, Cari agreed immediately and they scampered as far from the lake as possible.

It was Thursday morning when the messenger came. Cari was lying on her back near - but not _too_ near - the Whomping Willow, enjoying the breeze from its limbs as it batted viciously at the birds that foolishly tried to perch on it. A tiny parchment bumblebee buzzed up - vellum wings emitting the most pleasantly low humming - and stopped to hover in the air before Cari's face.

"Miss Romana," the bee said in Professor Dumbledore's voice - a bit of a shock to the senses, but nothing too strange for Cari to process, "Would you be so kind as to meet with me in my office? I am in no hurry; nor, I imagine, are you, so an hour should be plenty soon enough. I shall see you then."

Partially from a reflex not to be rude to a Headmaster and partially from curiosity, Cari stood immediately and began ambling toward the castle. Students were everywhere today, mostly gathered around the lake or the shadows thrown across the grounds by the stone buildings of Hogwarts, but there was a rather raucous group congregated around the Quidditch Pitch. From what Cari could gather, there was an extremely looked-forward-to scrimmage between various teams made up of whomever wanted to play from various Houses. Several had asked Cari to referee, but she had refused. After the Patronus incident, she felt far more at ease with Shadow's memory, but flying still rubbed at nerves that were a little raw.

By the time Cari made it up to Professor Dumbledore's office, her hour had nearly passed. She was prepared to wait outside until the actual time, but the staircase was already moving and she stepped on as soon as she was close enough.

"Ah, Miss Romana," the Headmaster greeted when her head had risen to the level of his office floor. "Right on schedule. And how do you find yourself on this extremely pleasant day?"

"Resigned, sir," she replied, knowing she was likely going to get in trouble. After all, Dumbledore was too intelligent to miss that she had been out after curfew the week before. Surely he couldn't give her detention with only a day left of school, but she could very well be in for a lecture... She gathered her thoughts enough to ask belatedly, "How are you?"

"Very well, thank you for asking," he replied politely, ignoring her odd answer to his question. "Do you know why I summoned you here?"

"Not at all," Cari pretended, trying her best to sound innocently curious.

His eyes twinkled at her over the glint of his silver-framed spectacles. "Of course not. I merely wanted to thank you for your help in the handling of the excitement last week."

"Sir?" she asked, but laughed when he lifted a brow at her. "I'm sorry, sir. I just have to wonder how it is that you know about that?"

"My dear girl," he said, pretending to be insulted. "Who do you think sent Mr. Potter and Miss Granger on their mission in the first place?"

"Well, that explains a lot," Cari muttered. "But I didn't really do very much to help."

"On the contrary," the Headmaster disagreed. "If you hadn't... er- intercepted Mr. Malfoy, it could have been disastrous for the situation as a whole. As things played out, two innocent lives were saved and no one else was permanently injured. That couldn't have happened without the help of you and your friends."

"Well, we broke just about every school rule to do it," Cari said slowly, uncertain of why she was working against herself so hard. "I mean, are we in trouble? Everything was my idea. The twins were just trying to make sure I didn't get hurt. Not that there's much that could be done to punish me, I guess. After all, I leave Saturday morning."

"Ah, exactly the topic I hoped to discuss with you," the Headmaster replied, beaming.

"Wait- trouble or punishment or leaving? There were a lot of words in that," Cari asked awkwardly.

"Your return to Echowick," he replied. "It isn't set in stone nearly as much as you seem to assume. You could choose to stay here."

"Wh- What?" Cari stumbled, taken aback by the Headmaster's matter-of-fact tone.

"It seems Hogwarts has been good for you, Miss Romana. A fully-corporeal Patronus after less than a year of lessons is impressive indeed."

"Thank you, sir," Cari replied numbly. Was he really going to offer her the chance to stay after all the trouble she had caused over the year?

"With that in mind, I would like to give you the option of remaining at Hogwarts for the rest of your schooling."

"Is- I mean- Do all of the Echowick students have this option?"

The question was more to give herself time to think than any real desire to know, but Dumbledore still pondered the question carefully. "No, they do not. However, that is not due to any favoritism on my part. I have kept a close eye on all of the Echowick students this year. You have a... well, a rather unique way of solving problems, you're intelligent and resourceful, and - if I'm not mistaken - you have quite a natural talent toward leadership. You bury it deeply, of course. You don't like the attention. Besides this, the situation at your home school is still less-than-ideal. If you accept, we'll be - if you'll pardon the expression - killing two birds with one stone."

Cari looked away, thinking it over carefully. "And I'll be able to stay in Gryffindor? With my current roommates?"

"Naturally," he responded. "Miss Granger and Miss Weasley are wonderful students and I see no reason to keep you separate. And who would I be to keep a Gryffindor from her true House?"

"You knew?" Cari asked, aghast at the renewed twinkling in his eyes.

"Of course," he responded easily. "You don't truly believe I would allow a student to be Sorted into a House in which they didn't belong?"

Cari shrugged. "I guess that makes sense, but I had so many doubts myself... I just hope Headmistress Fleet doesn't find out that you guys lied to her. She can be extremely scary when she's angry."

"I see no reason for her to believe things happened in any way other than how she wanted," Dumbledore agreed.

She studied him closely, but he showed no signs of actually being wary of Echowick's Headmistress. It didn't matter; Cari was more than frightened enough for both of them. "Well... Thank you, sir." Something in Cari's brain clicked and she realized that she didn't have to leave. Hogwarts would be her home school now, and she wouldn't have to worry about facing the hatred and drama of another year at Echowick.

Even as something lifted in her chest, she began to cry. Cari swiped at the tears in horror, hoping Professor Dumbledore hadn't seen them, but his blue gaze was on her. To his credit, there was a lack of judgment in it, but she was still humiliated. "I'm sorry, sir. I guess I was more worried about going back than I knew. It's been all I could think about for months now... It's just such a relief to be here!"

He nodded at her gravely. "I understand, Miss Romana. Hogwarts can be a powerful comfort. I would warn you, however, that the major issue with having a place of refuge is that, all too often, your problems wait patiently outside. Someday, you will have to face the things of which you are so frightened. I fear all we've done is give you a temporary reprieve."

Cari swallowed back a fresh flood of tears. "Thank you, Headmaster. Even if this is only a temporary escape, it's still more than I would have ever thought to hope for. I'll do my best to deserve it."

The Headmaster cocked his head, white hair brushing against the shoulder of his robe. "If that's the case, Miss Romana, perhaps as a newly-permanent student of Hogwarts, you should report out to the Quidditch Pitch? I've heard a great deal about some event going on out there today and I feel there will be a definite lack of students with innovative brooms and refereeing experience. I care deeply for all of my students, but they are such terrible cheats." He leaned forward in his chair, blue eyes laughing in his mock-serious face. "Especially young men with red hair, as well as their sister."

"Yes, sir," Cari replied, standing from her own chair. "I'll do my best to make sure no one cheats too badly."

She made her way from his office, fairly buzzing with excitement the whole way. As soon as she exited the doors of the Entrance Hall, Cari pulled her broom from her pocket, expanded it back to full-sized, and flew off rapidly toward the Pitch. As luck would have it, she came up just as George was using his elbows rather excessively on Crasini Breece. Casting a quick _sonorous_ on herself, she announced, "Foul on George Weasley for cobbing! Penalty shot: Crasini Breece."

The look of shock on the faces of the students would stay with Cari for a long time and she couldn't help but laugh.

Harry flew over to her, the annoyance obvious on his face. "Cari, you were supposed to come help us, not call fouls against my team!" He smiled to take the sting from his words. "It's nice to see you out here, though. Nice broom."

"Thanks," she called after him cheekily. "I made it myself!"

With that, she started her long-ignored pattern of refereeing, hovering around various points of the Pitch to keep a close eye on proceedings. Most of the cheating was almost friendly in nature, a bit of tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment that another player was good enough to want a leg up on. However, the Headmaster had definitely been right: the students were all prone to a bit of a cheating here or there, especially the Weasleys.

At one point during the day, there was a face-off between the team containing Harry and the Weasley twins (Cari personally thought it was almost cheating to have so many members of the Hogwarts Quidditch players on one team, but she wouldn't dare suggest it) and the team with Luna, Ginny, and Atrox. Cari thought her sides would split with laughter - especially when everyone realized Luna had not only composed a team song, but enchanted the ribbons bedecking her jacket to sing it loudly and off-key - but they were surprisingly good. Ginny was mostly the one to thank for this, as her speed and strong arms made her an excellent Chaser, but there were still loud protests from Harry's team when Ginny and the girls won. Cari's assurances that it had been a close match didn't do much to assuage the bruised male egos.

After a winner had been announced - an unlikely team made up of a Ravenclaw, two Slytherins, and four Hufflepuffs - everyone elected to go back to the castle proper and shower before going to the Great Hall for dinner. After a day filled with flying, Cari was more than ready to eat something, but she couldn't bring herself to rush the trip back from the Pitch. There was the most delicious feeling of camaraderie floating about, and Cari herself was a surprised recipient of some. There were many comments and compliments about her refereeing. Most of the students claimed she was more of a tyrant than even Hooch, but nothing other than fair. Cari decided to take that as a good thing. _Overall,_ she reflected, waiting on Ginny to finish showering, _what a great day!_

* * *

Author's Note \- Let me start out by saying that I LOVE the end of the school year. It used to be my absolute favorite, between the slack after testing, the wrapping-up of the year, and especially the weather. Maybe that's why I so enjoyed writing this chapter, but I especially loved being able to show a little bit of the Hogwarts school spirit in and of itself. With the books and movies, everything seems to be so competitive between the Houses, but I'm really fond of the idea of students forming their own little side groups. I don't know, it just makes me happy!

So, yes, Cari is staying at Hogwarts for a while. But Dumbledore, being the wise old wizard that he is, may know just a little bit more about that than he's letting on. Keep in mind that he mentions the very _temporary_ solution. I'm not going to give anything away, but we're definitely not done with Echowick Institute yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading! Special shoutout to ghostcrab311 for the review on Chapter 83. If you review, I'll tell you when the next chapter (the last in the Prisoner of Azkaban arc) will be released. See you all very soon and have a wonderful day!


	85. Going Home

**Adventures At Echowick**

 _Disclaimer:_ I do not own the rights to _Harry Potter_ or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which make me no money.

* * *

Going Home

Out of sheer necessity, Cari woke up at a decent time on the last day of her fourth year. She spent some time packing, but other errands soon made her leave the suitcase half-filled. There were a few professors she needed to speak with about summer-break assignments that she hadn't been given because everyone believed she wouldn't be returning the following year. Fortunately, she needed to meet with several of them anyway. One of the professors in question was Professor Snape.

After she had gotten the list of books to be read and reports to be written, Cari asked whether she would need to throw away any of the ingredients that hadn't been used during the year's potions-making. After informing her that most of the ingredients - having been dried in order to store for use - would have a shelf-life far outlasting what she would need, Professor Snape warned Cari that she would likely need to refill several stores of ingredients for the next year anyway, as studies would be intense in preparations for the OWLs.

"I have to say, Professor," Cari continued, unsure of why she was making small talk with the surly man, "You don't seem very surprised to hear that I'm staying."

The professor's voice was dry. "Believe it or not, Miss Romana, I am not that involved in the lives of my students." Cari flushed and nodded, but he continued on, drawling, "The Headmaster did ask several of us what we thought about offering you an ongoing opportunity to attend Hogwarts. I told him that you show promise, despite your unfortunate House alignment and abysmal taste in friends."

Cari cut through the bitter words and jumped immediately to the meaning behind them: the Professor had spoken to Dumbledore on her behalf. "Thank you, sir," she said immediately, fervently. "You have no idea what that means to me-"

With a single, impatiently-imperious gesture, he stopped her flood of gratitude. "I don't wish for your thanks, Miss Romana. Simply live up to the promise you have shown. Do not force me to coddle you as I must most of my students and you will have repaid any debt, real or imagined."

Fighting back a scoff at the idea of Professor Snape coddling anyone or anything, Cari nodded. "I will try my best. Have a nice summer, sir. I'll see you in September."

With a curled lip, the Potions professor inclined his head and closed the door.

Even after she had finished speaking with Professor Snape, Cari still hadn't run into many of her friends. After going into the library, she had been marshaled by Madam Pince into sorting books and preparing the library for the holidays. It was just as well, Cari didn't especially want to tell everyone the news about her staying. It wasn't that she wasn't excited, because she definitely was, but so little had gone right for her lately that she didn't trust bragging about it. Even knowing everything she did about curses and jinxes, she still felt as though talking about the good news before it was certain would somehow cause it not to happen.

On the plus side, Pince was so grateful for the help that she was pleasant to Cari all day, even when the fourth-year received an owl. As she had gone to open the window - out of necessity, nearly all of the windows at Hogwarts could open so owls could be allowed in or out - she had repeatedly apologized to the librarian, who had actually waved her off.

The owl was carrying a thick packet, which Cari opened to find the results of her exams. She had scored well in History of Magic (of course), Defense, and Care of Magical Creatures. Her scores were decent in Potions, Astronomy, and Transfiguration. It was with an utter lack of shock that Cari saw her Herbology scores were the lowest of the batch, but she was shocked to find that her best subject had been Charms! It was such a relief that she had to fight back tears, though this effort was aided by the amusing realization that she had achieved a perfect score on her Divination final. It appeared that Professor Trelawney, for all of her gifts, had never seen Back to the Future. Cari couldn't help but chuckle as she folded the pages, stowed them in a pocket, and returned to her assigned duties in the library.

When she finally left the library, it was only to go straight to the Great Hall for the end-of-term feast. As she settled into her seat, it seemed that everyone was talking about their exams results. Of course, the older students had a little more cause to brag, having made it through their OWLs or NEWTs, depending on how old they were. Percy Weasley was chattering away about how he had gotten such high scores, and was in the process of delving into a minute-by-minute recap of his thought process during the testing. Fred and George were making rude noises behind his back. They had apparently gotten only a few OWLs each, but that was all they had wanted. Oliver Wood seemed to have only have taken a NEWT in a few specific subjects and did fairly well, but the entire Hall was decked out in golden lions on crimson flags - a victory which most attributed to the success of the Gryffindor Quidditch team - so he was brimming with happiness regardless.

There was plenty of chatter in the Great Hall, but everything settled when Professor Dumbledore rose to make his typical speech. He congratulated the students on a successful year, one that celebrated the harmony between students of different countries - different continents, even.

"It gives us all a great sense of hope for the future - the very near future," he said, a secretive smile playing around the corner of his mouth. Cari frowned up at him, but the Headmaster simply continued with, "However, it is time to say goodbye to our Echowick friends as they prepare for their departure tomorrow. Wish them the best in their future schooling and remember to stay in touch. This world of ours is very small. One never knows for certain when or where they may meet again."

Cari swore Professor Dumbledore flashed her a quick wink before he continued on, explaining the details of their travels the next day, reminding them of when and where to drop off luggage and other such concerns. At last, he wrapped up his speech, bid them all to enjoy their meal, and sat back down.

After a bit of polite applause, the students turned to their food and their conversations. "I can't believe you have to go back to that place, Cari," Ron complained loudly on her behalf.

"It's ridiculous," Hermione agreed. "Things may have improved, but a student should never have to worry about their safety while they're trying to learn. Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs explains-"

"You know what, Romana?" Fred asked. "You should see if they'll let you transfer here permanently."

"Well, actually-" Cari started briefly before being interrupted.

"Don't even try to say you want to go back!" George burst out, looking offended.

Neville leaned forward gently. "We've all seen how quiet and nervous you get when you're thinking about going back to Echowick."

Before she could stop herself, Cari started laughing. "I'm sorry," she apologized when they all stared at her. "I should have told you guys earlier, but it didn't seem like the right time. Dumbledore asked me yesterday if I would want to stay at Hogwarts. I said yes."

There was a long beat of silence before everyone in earshot was simultaneously cheering, clapping her shoulders, or lecturing her for not telling her immediately. Ginny, sitting immediately to Cari's left, combined two of the reactions particularly well, yelling at her while slapping her arm soundly.

"Ouch!" Cari laughed, rubbing at the spot on her arm. "I'm sorry! Everyone's just been so busy. Plus, you and Hermione were going to find out sooner than anyone else anyway. I asked if I could keep our room with you two as my roommates, and as long as you both agree, Dumbledore says there's no problem with that."

"Of course I want to stay roommates with you," Ginny snapped, though she seemed somewhat mollified by the prospect of keeping a less-crowded dorm and bathroom.

"Miss Romana?" Cari turned to find Professor McGonagall standing behind her. "We need a word in the Headmaster's office as soon as you've finished your meal."

Cari's stomach dropped. Had she jinxed herself by telling everyone about the offer of staying? _Calm down, Cari. That isn't how jinxes work and you know it._ Swallowing a mouthful of food, Cari nodded up at McGonagall. "I'm ready now, Professor."

"Very good," she nodded, sweeping away. Cari waved goodbye to her friends with a feeling of deja-vu and rushed after the Professor. It was a quiet trip up to the Headmaster's office. Cari caught sight of Sir Smethwyck during the trip and smiled at him. He saluted cheerily and disappeared into a different portrait.

When they got to the office, Cari realized that the Headmaster had not only beaten them there, but brought a guest. Headmistress Fleet nodded regally at Cari from a chair near Professor Dumbledore's desk. There was a moment of awkward silence, somehow only accentuated when the Headmaster's phoenix flew across the room to land on the back of his chair. Cari was slightly familiar with Fawkes - mostly through stories, but enough to know his name. The bird stared at Cari over Dumbledore's head, his feathers bright enough that she thought (somewhat absurdly) that they should make a noise of their own.

Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence. "Miss Romana, we are here to discuss your continued presence at Hogwarts. Your ex-Headmistress needs a verbal confirmation from you, as does the Head of your newly-permanent House. I, of course, have already received your confirmation and need no further assurance on your part."

"Ah," Cari said, mostly to give herself time to think. "Headmistress Fleet, I hope it doesn't offend you when I say I want to stay at Hogwarts. Echowick is wonderful, and I miss it very much, but I just feel that things will be better for everyone if I stayed here."

Despite Cari's awkward trepidation, Professor Fleet smiled. "Congratulations on your transfer, Miss Romana." Cari felt her shoulders loosen as the tension literally disappeared from her body. "I would rather you stay at Echowick, of course, but the situation is somewhat unique and - I must admit - you couldn't have chosen a better place than Hogwarts."

Cari smiled at her now ex-Headmistress gratefully, but it appeared that Fleet wasn't done with her yet. "I have one more matter to discuss with you, Miss Romana. I told you once before that I had begun pursuing more information about the patents on your broom." Cari nodded, though she wasn't sure Fleet was exactly waiting for confirmation. "Well, my inquiries weren't public, but the records were by no means sealed. Your innovation was recognized by the Irish Quidditch team playing in this summer's World Cup and they wish for your assistance."

Cari frowned, flattered but also surprised at Fleet. "I don't think the brooms are nearly ready to be tested on that level, Professor. And besides, there wouldn't be enough time to carve the handles, let alone the runes and cores…"

Professor Fleet held up a thin hand. "Miss Romana, I applaud your new willingness to continue producing your brooms, but that is not exactly what I meant." Cari moved her gaze down to her lap, fighting a blush. "What I meant," Fleet continued, "was that they recognize your potential and would like you to assist with broom maintenance in the days leading up to the World Cup, and perhaps in checks and care after the event has finished. They are willing to work around whatever schedule you require and are willing to pay a very generous salary."

Cari's mouth fell open. She was getting an amazing opportunity and they wanted to pay her for it? It was too good to be true! _Too good to be…_ "Professor, why are they doing this? What do you think?"

With a smile, the Professor told Cari that she was proud of the girl's caution. "Ah, searching for an ulterior motive. Quite intelligent of you. In this particular case, I don't see that you have much cause to worry. It's likely they heard about a girl who may make extraordinary brooms in the future and would like to align themselves in her mind as the foremost candidate to receive those brooms."

Cari was slightly indignant. "You mean they're going to pay me for a few days this summer and expect me to make brooms for them and just give them over because I'm so grateful they gave me a job when I was younger?"

Fleet glanced over at the Hogwarts administration hopelessly. McGonagall did her best to explain. "Miss Romana, you don't seem to understand the power you are talking about. There haven't been any significant innovations in the field of broomsticks for nearly one hundred years. There have been alterations to charms, streamlining, and cosmetic appearances, but nothing on the level you find yourself working. The Irish Quidditch team is willing to give you this position now - one which should rightfully go to a fully-qualified Broomsmith - for the chance to be the first to order your broomsticks in the future. There's no question of payment. You could charge whatever you wish for your brooms and likely find a market, but the question is simply who will be the first to be allowed to purchase them."

The full scale of her potential future market floored Cari and she sat back in her seat, stunned. "Oh… I see." Pulling together every bit of brain activity that hadn't been fried in her flash of understanding, Cari made a decision. "If that's the case… I accept."

* * *

The next morning was filled with a crazy flurry of activity. Students rose to finish packing, Cari among them, before they rushed off to grab a quick breakfast and put their luggage in the correct places at the right time. Cari dredged up memories of traveling with her family and did a final sweep of the room like Naomi used to. She turned up half a sheaf of crumpled parchment, a mostly-empty bottle of ink, and a dusty box of chocolates one of them had lost a month or so before.

As Cari finished checking the room, the magically-magnified voice of Professor McGonagall sounded in all of the rooms, informing the students that the Hogwarts Express had begun boarding. Cari rushed down to the Great Hall, towing her luggage behind her (now returned to its previous state of a light suitcase rather than the heavy trunk) and jumped into one of the waiting carriages. She sat inside for a long moment, absorbing the rocking feeling as it was pulled down the path, but soon had to peek out of the window at the creature pulling the carriage.

It looked like an oversized bat had been cross-bred with a large, skeletal horse. As Cari glanced out at it, the creature turned its head to survey Cari with pupil-less white eyes. The beast gave a little toss of its head and returned its gaze to the road ahead. Though it was far from what she would have called beautiful, Cari had to admit that the animal was striking. Its black fur was glossy and it moved with a certain amount of grace.

Cari considered it for a moment, but eventually pulled her head back into the carriage. It wasn't like the animal was behaving dangerously, and it looked like they were almost to the Hogsmeade Station. Besides, short of jumping from the moving vehicle, there was nothing she could do by then. These thoughts occupied her until the carriage stopped and the door opened.

Hagrid's concerned face peered in at her. "Everything a'right, Cari?"

"Of course, Professor," she assured. "Just running a little late."

He nodded. "Well, yeh jus' go ahead and board. I'll load yer trunk up m'self." Cari handed him her suitcase and the large man stared down at it in astonishment as she hopped down from the carriage. "Did yeh forget something?"

"Oh no, sir. Everything's in there. It was a present, you know," she said, gesturing to the suitcase in case there could be any misinterpretation.

"And a thumpin' good 'un," he replied with a friendly smile. "Easy to load up." By this time, the two were standing in front of one of the gleaming passenger cars of the Hogwarts Express. "Have a good summer, Cari."

"Thank you, Professor! Enjoy your break!" With a final wave, Cari boarded the train. She had walked less than halfway down the first car when it started to move. _I really must have been one of the last ones on,_ she pondered. _I just need to find someone I know to sit with._

It was a bit uncomfortable to walk down the long aisles on the cars, peeking into every compartment she passed in hopes of finding one of her friends, but Cari persisted. About halfway through the third car, she found Atrox - surprisingly, sharing a compartment with Crasini Breece and a handful of younger Slytherin and Ravenclaw students. Atrox stood immediately and flung the door open. "Licaria! I wasn't sure I was going to see you again before you left."

Cari drank in the sight of Atrox's familiar face, her contagious smile stretching the mark mottling her cheek. "I wouldn't have missed seeing you a last time, Atrox. Not after everything you've done for me. Do you know what you're going to do now that you're done school?"

Atrox considered that for a long moment. "Well, I'm officially not a Rosier anymore. I'll have to find a place to go, but I know I want to do something with Charms work. Maybe testing and implementation for the Ministry."

"Where are you going to go until you find somewhere? I might be able to get my aunt to let you stay with us..."

"I think I have somewhere to go," Atrox said, a hint of mischief creeping into her smile.

Crasini appeared in the doorway behind Atrox, greeting, "Hey, Romana. Atrox is going to stay with me and my family for a little while. We have an international Floo set up, so she can come here to interview with the Ministry for positions." Cari, taken aback, searched around for something positive to say, but he frowned at her. "Are you not coming back to Echowick?"

"What?" she asked reflexively.

He gave a rolling sort of shrug. "It sounded like Dumbledore was hinting that someone might be staying behind and you make the most sense."

Cari blinked at him. _I never thought he was unintelligent, but to pick up on something that subtle... Guess there was a reason he was Sorted into Ravenclaw!_ "Yeah, I'm staying at Hogwarts. I talked to Fleet about it and she agrees that it's a good choice."

"It is, but I'm sorry you won't be around Echowick next year. I feel like you must have some good stories after spending a year around those Gryffindors!" Crasini said with a laugh.

"Well, I think it's great that you're staying," Atrox interjected, turning to the younger students in the compartment. "Everyone watch out for Cari next year! She may be a Lion, but she's one of the better ones."

Crasini evidently agreed. "Yeah, she isn't a 'Claw or a Snake, but you still want to be on her good side."

Cari blushed. "Thank you guys. I better go find those other Lions, but it was great to see you. Atrox, stay in touch, all right?"

"Definitely. It was a pleasure knowing you, Cari."

Waving goodbye to both Atrox and Crasini, Cari continued her trek down the compartments. As she worked her way through the cars, Cari's brain informed her that, since she hadn't found many people she knew yet, it was likely they were all sitting together. It was a fair point, and proven true when she peeked into a compartment on the fifth car. Even from outside, she could hear the shouts of, "Hey, Romana!" and so was prepared when the door flew open and she was pulled inside.

The compartments weren't overly large, usually holding six to eight people, but this one was full to overflowing. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were gathered into a seat and a half, Luna perched delicately across both other girls' laps. Neville sat next to them, good-naturedly dealing with Luna's feet, which occasionally spilled over to rest on his legs. Lee Jordan was crammed into a seat between Neville and the space taken up by Hedwig's cage.

The other side fared little better. Harry and Ron sat across from Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. Though the boys weren't nearly as crowded-together as the girls, both looked deeply uncomfortable, and Cari fought to keep that particular surge of amusement from her face. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan took up the rest of the space, though they seemed to be having a conversation between themselves.

Winners for the most unusual choice of seat, however, would have to be the twins. All of the luggage had been shrunk and pushed toward the window side of the compartment luggage racks, the rest of which were fully taken up by Fred, sprawling across one, and George, lounging on the other.

"We were wondering where you were," Hermione lectured. "What took so long to get here?"

Cari shrugged. "I didn't know where you guys were. Obviously, it's a little crowded, so I'll just keep looking around for a place to sit…"

"No, stay!" Ginny urged. "We aren't all really sitting in here. We also have the compartment next door. This just seemed like the best way to talk."

Cari frowned. "Then why didn't you move the luggage and Hedwig's cage over to that compartment so you'd have a little more room in here?"

Hermione's face sprouted a smug expression as Fred bellowed, "My shrinking charms are fine! I did a great job! Leave it alone!"

George snorted from across the compartment. "Yeah, the second time. Or was it the third..?" Fred made an inelegant noise and chucked one of the shrunken trunks across the car. Cari supposed it must have been shrunken correctly, as it didn't seem to seriously injure someone by either weight or by suddenly and violently un-shrinking itself.

"Okay," she agreed simply, crossing her legs and settling down on a clear section of compartment floor. The conversation flowed around her as though her interruption had never happened, and Cari found herself laughing or throwing insults along with the rest of the students as the occasion needed. It was a pleasant way to pass an afternoon on the train, especially when the snack cart had come around and everyone had bought a bit of everything, sharing it in a picnic style. Cari even produced the newly-dusted box of chocolates that she had thought to shrink and bring along for a treat.

Just after the last of the wrappers had been collected and disposed of, Hermione perked up. "There's something outside the window!"

At her exclamation, everyone in the compartment scrambled to look, exclaiming as a little gray blob bumbled around, turning every which direction in its attempt to keep up with their window. "Harry," Ron ventured. "Do you reckon you could catch it?"

Harry eyed it for a moment. "I think so, yeah. Here, just let me..."

Everyone shuffled around a bit as Harry fought his way closer to the window. As soon as he lowered the upper pane, air rushed in, beating around their faces as they watched eagerly. Harry reached out slightly, pulled his hand back as he watched the gray shape, then rapidly grabbed and pulled it inside as everyone cheered.

"It's an owl!" Ginny said, voice full of surprise.

"A darling one, too," Luna cooed dreamily, tickling the little bird's beak.

The tiny owl accepted her touch for a moment before pulling away to flutter around the compartment in crazed little circles. Fred and George, joking about their long-ignored Seeking abilities, took turns trying to catch it from their vantage points near the ceiling. Their ensuing failures distracted everyone enough for Harry to open the letter, the envelope of which had clearly been addressed to him.

Softly, he tapped Hermione and Ron, made eye contact with Cari and pointed to the twins, tipping his head toward the empty compartment next door. Cari got their attention and pulled them away.

Ron stopped before leaving and said, "We've got to leave for just a moment. Keep an eye on that owl, yeah? It looks like the type to go flying off and get lost."

There was a call of general agreement even as Lee began taking bets on where the owl would land first.

Cari ended up being the last to step into the empty compartment and closed the door behind her. Harry was holding the opened letter with a serious look on his face. "Right. I know it isn't the brightest idea, trusting so many people with this, but you all helped Sirius with his escape, so I think you've a right to know."

He held the letter out, but Hermione made an irritated noise. "Harry, it'll take ages for everyone to read the letter. You start reading, I'll soundproof the compartment."

Harry obligingly read Sirius's letter aloud. Other than a few comments, the group listened in silence to the ex-prisoner's plan to take some of the pressure off Hogwarts.

"Have to admit that he's more clever than we gave him credit for being," George said readily enough.

Fred nodded. "Yeah, sneaking into the castle as a dog? Brilliant. Wonder how he knew where to get in?"

"You don't know who he is?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"Hang on," Ron said warningly. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Think how much worse they could be..."

As the twins glanced between the two suspiciously, Harry let out a laugh. "Why not tell them? They'll get more out of it than anyone else. Sirius is an Animagus, he transforms into a dog."

"Believe it or not," Fred started acerbically.

"-We did manage to work that one out," George finished, just as sarcastically as his twin.

"Well," Harry continued determinedly, "There were a few other Animagi in his year and they spent a lot of time together - causing trouble for the most part - and each had a nickname. Sirius was known as Padfoot."

"Not..." the twins said together, looking paler than Cari had ever seen them.

"Yes, Sirius is Padfoot, Professor Lupin is Moony, Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail..." Harry made a face as he admitted that the traitorous man had once been a close friend of his father. "And Prongs was my dad."

"Harry..." George drew out.

"You've got to join us for some pranks next year," Fred requested reverently.

"You were born for mischief."

"It's in your blood!"

"All right, you two," Hermione chided. "Stop trying to corrupt him."

"I don't think he's actually listening to them," Cari pointed out, drawing attention to the fact that Harry was reading a different letter that had come in the same envelope.

He held it up with a grin. "Sirius signed my Hogsmeade permission slip. But I'm not the only one with good news: Ron, Sirius said that owl is a present for you." Ron's face broke into the widest smile Cari had seen from him all year. Harry, apparently refusing to be distracted, handed Cari a folded slip of paper. "Cari, this is for you."

"I'm surprised that little owl could fly carrying all of this weight!" Cari joked, unfolding the letter to scan it.

 _Cari,_

 _I'm sure by now you've worked out that I was the dog you spent so much time with this past year. I won't lecture you about how much you're out of class, but be careful! Minnie can be lenient sometimes, but she doesn't care for it._

 _I wanted to apologize for snapping at you a few months ago. It was the first time I had seen Pettigrew and it was just bad luck that you were there to witness it. It isn't any kind of excuse, but sometimes the instincts of the dog take over and it's impossible to control them. You were trying to steal my prey and Padfoot couldn't stop himself from trying to keep it. I would never want to hurt an innocent student, especially one who went out of her way to be friendly to a stray dog._

 _Your kindness won't be forgotten. I'm not much use right now since I'm on the run, but if you need anything, Ron's owl knows how to find me. I'll do whatever I can to help. My sources tell me you're staying at Hogwarts. I'm glad. You may not see it yet, but you belong there._

 _Tell the twins I said 'thank you' for helping me escape. I owe my life to you three just as much as Harry, Hermione, and Ron. That was one fantastic Patronus, by the way!_

 _Be well,_

 _Sirius_

Cari smiled and tucked the letter into the back pocket of her jeans. The twins were looking at her quizzically, so she said shortly, "Sirius says thank you for helping him."

They shrugged off the thanks, but Cari could see that the gratitude of a man they considered a role model meant a great deal to both young wizards.

"Should we get back to the others?" Harry asked, moving toward the door.

Hermione dropped the silencing wards and they went back next door. The owl had finally landed on the top of Neville's head and there was much complaining - apparently, no one had bet on that particular spot. "That's _my_ owl," Ron exclaimed proudly to the room.

The diminutive bird took off again, landing on Hermione's shoulder. It peeked out at the room from between her chestnut curls, hooting happily. "Ron's owl, all right," Fred muttered to George, who sniggered appreciatively.

"Who sent you an owl?" Seamus asked curiously.

Ron went pink and fished around for an answer, but Harry lied smoothly, "His parents."

"Why did they send it now rather than wait until he got home?" Dean asked.

"They wanted to send a letter to Harry," George tossed out.

"It was just more convenient to send it now," Fred supported.

"About what?" Neville asked.

Cari grimaced. This was turning into an inquisition! Surprisingly, it was Ginny who fielded that particular question. "Well, they were asking if Harry would come stay with us over the summer. That way, he could go to the Quidditch World Cup."

"You never know if you're going to find someone at King's Cross," Luna pointed out wisely. "I'm sure they just didn't want to chance missing him."

"That makes sense," Lee conceded. "Do you think you'll go, Harry?"

"I'd really like to," Harry said longingly. "If I can get my family to agree."

No one knew too many details about Harry's home life, but they all knew enough for there to be an awkward silence, broken by Hermione. "I think I'm going to change back into my Muggle clothes now. We aren't too far from London."

This was met with agreements from around the compartment and the girls all moved one over to change while the boys stayed put. The rest of the trip was spent nearly the same as it had been previously: lots of chatting and joking, story-telling and laughter. Everything was a bit of a blur when they pulled into the station, but no one seemed to be in a great rush to leave the crowded compartment. Cari relished the feeling of belonging, of having friends once more, even as she regretted that she would have to leave them for a whole summer. _At least I get to come back next year!_ she reminded herself.

When Cari stepped off the train, she was wrapped in an immediate hug. Her head was tucked against a lean shoulder, but she knew immediately who it was. "Hi, Kat!" she said, the greeting coming out severely muffled.

"Cari! I missed you so much! How was your school year? Tell me everything!" Before Cari could even take a breath, Kat went on. "Dumbledore wrote, he said you're staying at Hogwarts! That's great! Are you ridiculously excited? Do you have any supplies that need replaced? I mean, of course you do, but... Well, we have a whole summer. Why aren't you talking? Is everything okay?"

"Kat," Friend John chuckled, resting his hand on the nape of her neck. "Give her a full second of silence and I'm sure she'll start talking, okay?"

"Hey, Friend John!" Cari said pleasantly. "Nice to see you again!"

"You too, Mini-Kat," he grinned. "Come here!" He gave her a hug before pulling away to grab her suitcase.

"So, Kat... Anything going on there?" Cari asked, waggling her eyebrows.

Kat blushed prettily. "No, we're just friends. And don't think you can avoid telling me all about this past year!"

"I don't think that at all!" Cari protested. "I just want to make sure we're going back to Chicago." Kat looked confused, so Cari clarified: "I wasn't sure if you've moved in with John yet."

Kat slapped her shoulder playfully and Cari pretended to cradle her hand against the spot. "Okay, fine! But I expect to be the first to find out when you two do become a couple." Kat pretended to aim another slap at her niece and Cari hastily said, "Oh, look! Weasleys!"

After Kat and Cari had received hugs from Mrs. Weasley, the older redheaded woman began chatting to Kat about plans over the summer. Cari participated briefly, but the twins caught her eye and nodded away from the group. Obligingly, Cari joined them a few feet away.

"Cari," Fred started.

"You know we were talking to Harry about the World Cup..." George said uncomfortably.

"Well, you're invited to that, too."

"We'd all really like it if you could come along."

"It'll be a lot of fun!"

"Most of our family will be there."

"And Hermione's agreed to come."

Cari raised her hands in surrender. "Thank you for the invitation. But, as it happens, I'll already be there." She explained quickly about the offer she had gotten, and had to chuckle at the looks of astonishment and respect on the twins' faces.

"You'll have to at least come say hello, then," George told her.

"If you have a moment that isn't taken up by famous Quidditch players," Fred grinned.

"Wanting to curry your favor," George continued, taking on a dramatic tone.

"Don't forget about your lowly friends who cared about the real you, back when you were a nobody like us," Fred begged, ending with a wink.

Cari shook her head. "Of course I'll come see you guys. Maybe I can even steal you some memorabilia!"

"Now you're talking!"

"Knew there was a reason we liked you, Romana."

"Cari? We're heading home now, hon," Kat called over the noise of the crowd.

"Okay, Kat! Be there in a second!" Cari turned back to the twins for a moment. "See you guys soon?"

"Of course, Romana!"

Cari headed out of the station with her aunt, chatting about the events of the year even as she waved to people she recognized. They passed a harried-looking Headmistress Fleet on the way out and Cari swore she saw Kat hand the woman a small bottle of tequila, but Kat refused to admit that she had done any such thing.

"So..." John trailed as they left the train station. "Anyone hungry? We can go to the Leaky Cauldron!"

Cari and Kat both groaned, but followed him as he eagerly led the way to Diagon Alley.

* * *

Author's Note \- Well, here we are. I have to admit, sitting here and writing this, listening to 'Leaving Hogwarts'... It's all making me a little nostalgic! I started writing this story a little over two years ago and now look at it. This isn't the end, but it's where I originally pictured the end of the story to be. So much has changed, both in my personal life and in the direction I see this story going. It's just a little strange to see such a clearly-defined marker of your life passing, isn't it? But that's enough of a life crisis caused by fan fiction, I suppose.

As most of you know, I wrote a large section of this story before publishing the first chapter, but we've worked through all of that and the chapters I wrote while I was in the process of publishing. In an attempt to keep the wait times down between chapters, I am putting this story on what will hopefully turn out to be a very temporary hiatus while I write more material at the higher quality I am striving to attain. With any luck (and some hard work on my part), I'll be posting again some time in May or June. If you want to be kept updated about when to expect more chapters, leave a review or PM me and I'll try to give a more exact timeline when I have one.

Special thank-you to ghostcrab311, who is by far my most loyal reviewer. The encouragement I get from your reviews is just beyond belief! As for everyone else, thank you so much for sticking with this story for so long. I hope to see you in a few months with more of Cari's story, but if this is the end of the road for you, I am sincerely grateful you've given me so much of your time and attention. I hope you all have a wonderful day, week, month, and longer. Thanks!


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